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It may take Chancellor Angela Merkel weeks to negotiate a new coalition, but the vote for stability means that change will only be at the margins of current domestic and foreign policy. Still, the fallout of the election in the EU and beyond, including in India, should not be underestimated
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German foreign policy can be described as one anchored in the European and NATO alliance while being the economic centre of Europe. Yet, any government that comes in after the September 22 elections will be challenged by rapid developments in West Asia and elsewhere in a politically and economically turbulent world
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This daily column includes Gateway House’s Badi soch – big thought – of the day’s foreign policy events. Today’s focus is on the election process, viewed through the Karnataka election in India, and the general elections in Pakistan and Iceland.
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Conventional political parties around the world seem to be on the decline, and there are common factors too – precarious economies and a leaching of ideology, for example. How can countries achieve grassroots empowerment in their village republics, and those of ordinary citizens the world over?
The establishment of a BRICS Development Bank will be among the prime topics of discussion at the BRICS Summit on March 26. Gateway House’s Akshay Mathur interviews former Indian Ambassador and Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, on the prospects and viability of alternate financial architectures.
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All the major economic forces in the world have come together in Africa in a new version of the Great Game. The competition for the continent’s resources will ultimately harm Africa unless Africa uses this opportunity to its advantage and to address its own serious problems.
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In the 1700s, one man antagonized the European powers, and insisted on the Maratha Empire’s rights to taxation and sovereignty over Maharashtra’s coast. He was Kanhoji Angre, the head of the Maratha navy. How did he, 283 years ago, set an important precedent for the Subcontinent’s local powers?
With the Free Syrian Army being supplied aid by the West and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the endgame for the Syrian regime has begun. Does Assad's exit guarantee the replacement of autocracy with democracy? What implications will it have on regional politics?
Momentous developments are taking place in Europe. In elections in Greece, France and Germany, Europeans expressed dissent against austerity policies adopted by their government to combat the economic crisis in Europe. How will these results affect the future of European policy-making?
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Few people know that Sweden was severely affected by the 2008 global economic crisis. However, the Swedish government adopted prudent fiscal and monetary policies to overcome the situation. The author discusses the factors that helped Sweden to acquit itself so creditably in the most challenging of circumstances.
