Gateway Features
Preparing China’s economy for 2025
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Every December, China holds a Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC). This conference takes stock of the economy’s performance during the current year and sets the tone for the next year. The conference is mainly meant for economic issues, but some party-related issues are also discussed. The CEWC is always preceded by a meeting of the Politbureau. (the Meeting). In 2024, the Politbureau met on 9th December and laid down some guidelines; it was followed by the CEWC on 11th and read more
Détente for hegemony
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In 2025 China’s share of the UN’s regular budget will be 20%, just a shade less than the U.S., which has capped it’s share at 22% for years. Given the power game of nations that the UN is, the scale of assessment is about as de-jure an indicator of the rise of China and it’s rivalling the U.S. as possible. In assessing the scale, the UN goes by two broad criterion – a country’s share of global GDP and a discount read more
India-China: learning from each other
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India and China hadn’t spoken to each other since 15 June 2020, when Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a bloody clash following the Chinese incursion into Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. Diplomatic, business, and academic exchanges came to a halt, and 30 border talks took place since. On 23 October, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping revived bilateral ties at the BRICS Summit in Kazan. They came to a disengagement and patrolling agreement and arrived at a read more
Energy crisis in Bangladesh and way forward
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Bangladesh faces an energy crisis due increasing prices, depleting foreign exchange reserves and political instability. Amit Bhandari, Senior Fellow, Energy, Investment and Connectivity, Gateway House, speaks with Rayhan Rashid on an episode of the South Asia Democratic Forum’s podcast on challenges affecting Bangladesh’s energy sector and potential solutions such as diversification of energy sources, a shift toward low-carbon energy production, and regional integration. read more
Iran’s Jews in the crosshairs
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Iran has an indigenous Jewish community of about 9,000 persons. This is the largest Jewish diaspora in the Middle East outside of Israel. Ever since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, a proxy of Iran, Iran’s Jews have actively participated and been very vocal in protest marches, official letters, and interviews, loudly denouncing the actions of the State of Israel in the current war. This is to be expected as they have always publicly hewn to their government’s line read more
Research
Divergent global reactions to major crises such as those sparked by the war in Ukraine and NATO’s Afghanistan withdrawal have widened the chasm between Western countries and emerging middle powers. This survey, conducted among nearly 1,000 experts from India, Brazil, South Africa and Germany, examines key foreign policy priorities in these countries, and reveals that despite differences, dialogue is possible.
Foreign Affairs
China’s expansionist nuclear programme aims to bolster its capabilities, so much so, that Beijing's predictions boast 2500 new warheads by 2030, thus rivalling the American and Russian arsenals. As the dragon quadruples its nuclear propensity, heralding the world to something greatly unstable – a tripolar nuclear system; nuclear peace seems a quite convoluted goal.
Book Reviews
The current global focus on terrorism and the threats from nation-states, seem as it is a recent phenomenon. In fact terrorism has been present for the last century, still has the capacity to return and to shock with its brutality. India is no stranger to these acts and Germany has just suffered another attack on a Christmas market. A new book recalls the terrorism of 50 years ago and identifies how it became entangled in the politics of the Cold War.
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