Seema Sirohi is currently based in Washington as a senior journalist specializing in foreign policy. She received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and studied sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
As a journalist, she has covered India-US relations for more than two decades for The Telgraph, Outlook and Anand Bazar Patrika, writing on topics ranging from geo-politics and the North-South divide to Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has reported from various nations around the globe, such as Italy, Israel and Pakistan and published opinion pieces in The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor and The Baltimore Sun.
She was also a commentator with National Public Radio and has made various appearences with BBC and CNN. Apart from her career as an analyst and journalist, as an author, she has published a book titled Sita’s Curse: Stories of Dowry Victims (HarperCollins India) in 2003.
Seema Sirohi is also on Twitter, and her handle is @seemasirohi
In a recent speech, U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticised incumbent President Barack Obama's foreign policies, and called for U.S. supremacy. However, it seems apparent that Romney wouldn’t usher in a foreign policy revolution if elected.
Partly due to support from undecided voters, women and African Americans, incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama seems to be ahead in the polls. However, much will rest on which candidate can win over the country’s middle class. Whatever the result, it will have repercussions on markets and deregulation.
At the heart of the U.S. Presidential elections campaign is a debate about class. This time, the scenario is different: recession, slow economic recovery, the Occupy movement and many financial scandals have expanded the domain for the forbidden topic.
The third India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue saw more talk of ‘mutual capabilities’ than of a mere alliance. The larger endeavour in the bilateral is to find the right fit as partners, where both countries can preserve their strategic autonomy and benefit from their unique positions in the international community.
Pakistan’s refusal to re-open NATO supply routes into Afghanistan has made the country an instant pariah in the U.S. at the NATO Summit. The communiqué released confirms a withdrawal of 130,000 troops by as early as mid-2013. Can the remaining soldiers help maintain peace when a force much larger could not?
An important take-away from the preliminary pact reached by Kabul and Washington is that unlike the 1990s, the Americans are not just packing their bags and leaving. This is good news in terms of regional stability, and the upcoming NATO summit may answer some questions this draft agreement raises.
Although political discourse around Iranian sanctions is binary and stark in Washington, the reality of India's actions within its bilateral framework with Iran is complex. India is engaged in an excruciating tightrope walk, and has to defend its choices and compulsions with ardour.
Iran may become a litmus test for India's relationship with the U.S., where New Delhi must deftly balance its strategic relationship with the U.S. along with its energy interests in Iran.
The new U.S. defense strategy calls for less military spending, and a focus on Asia-Pacific with the strategic emphasis to counter China’s defense build-up as the focal point. This shift could drive the debate toward an aggressive new Cold War rhetoric against China, or accommodation driven by economic necessity.
The U.S. presidential race for 2012 is on, and the Republican Party will see a Gingrich vs Romeny face-off. One must, however, invoke the cliché that ‘a week is too long in politics’ as an insurance against faulty predictions.
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