Courtesy: WikimediaCommons
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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The outgoing Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, D. Subbarao, delivered his last speech – the Nani Palkhiwala memorial lecture – as the head of the country’s central bank on August 29. Aditya Phatak blogs about how he combined tough talk and confession with balance and political sagacity
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In 'Latin America Update' Gateway House lists some of the important events in Latin America over the past month
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Recently, the Indian Parliament passed two key legislations - the Companies Bill and the Food Security Bill. How will these seemingly unconnected legislations together empower technologies and business models that pose serious challenges to building a market economy that’s in sync with democratic aspirations?
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The economic mismanagement by the ruling UPA in the past few years – by putting politics and polls ahead of economy and prosperity, and slavish obedience to political masters – has created an environment of crisis and desperation in India. Where did the country’s so-called economic ‘dream team’ go wrong?
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While the rejection by Odisha’s Gram Sabhas of mining projects in the state indicates the triumph of direct democracy, concerns that international investors will shun India due to the fear of unfavourable conditions are rife. How can we work towards both greater democracy and mining projects necessary for growth?
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Liberalism is a politics of hope, mutuality, compromise and reason. If that has been replaced by a politics of fear, egotism, polarisation and unreason, it is India’s elites that are responsible. How can liberalism be made an object of mass politics in India?
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The war on terror and the global financial crisis have tilted the balance of authority on the side of the state, which the liberating forces of cyber space have only partially counteracted. Can the forces of liberalisation prevail over the forces of incipient oppression?
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Over the past 30 years, Indian liberals have shed their values of tolerance, reason and dialogue. The rise of fundamentalism, strident socio-political discourse, and post-modernist individualism also indicate the decline of the liberal ethos. This is a threat to India’s vibrant philosophical liberal tradition
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The reforms of the early 1990s did not bring economic freedom to a majority of the population. That explains a large proportion of the economic and social ills that affect India today. Why is economic life in India of the ‘Taliban type’? Why is illiberal thought still our guiding principle?