U.S. President Donald J. Trump, former U.S. President Barack Obama and their wives bid farewell to each other during the departure ceremony during at the 58th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2017. More than 5,000 military members from across all branches of the armed forces of the United States, including reserve and National Guard components, provided ceremonial support and Defense Support of Civil Authorities during the inaugural period. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos) Courtesy: Wikipedia
9 February 2017

Bilateralism: a new Bretton Woods order?

Trump’s pronouncements about his intentions to challenge the direction and substance of America’s post World War II global ‘liberal’ order---terming institutions, like NATO, obsolete and pulling out of trade agreements, like TPP---reveal a preference for political-style deal making

Reversal of Globalisation2 Courtesy: Systemic Alternatives
8 February 2017

Is globalisation in reverse?

The contours of globalisation are being reshaped. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump mark a strong anti-globalisation sentiment even as leaders in China, India and Russia successfully marry nationalist rhetoric with a cleverly crafted overseas strategy, premised on the very tenets of globalisation. There seems to be a ‘pause’ in the unbalanced progress of globalisation of the last three decades—and this could have many positive outcomes

china-map-of-obor-1 Courtesy: The Wire
6 February 2017

OBOR: in search of private financing

China has launched the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative in an attempt to rebuild the ancient Silk Road with proposed land and sea routes to promote infrastructure, trade, and investment in the regions that it will thus connect. The challenge will be to attract private financing to support the official and multilateral ones

28455374735_17cf79553a_b Courtesy: Flickr
31 January 2017

Saudi prince: not quite a game changer?

Prince Salman’s accession to the throne after the death of Saudi King Abdullah on 23 January 2015 has been a game changer, both domestically and in West Asian politics. Within days, he sidelined rivals within the House of Saud, and took on Iran with a confrontational policy. But two years later, the results of his new strategy disappoint

Neelam 1 Courtesy: Gateway House
25 January 2017

How Trump will reconfigure geopolitics

Ambassador Neelam Deo delivered this speech at the grand finale of ‘The Mind Games’ – a platform for talent development & idea generation at Mahindra Partners on January 18, 2017. Ambassador Deo’s speech focuses on the disruption of the post-Cold War global framework to be caused by Trump’s foreign policy changes

uae prince india Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
25 January 2017

India-UAE: time to foster mutual interests

The West Asian monarchies are being forced to ‘look East’ due to a range of factors: the rise of the Islamic State, their need to boost falling oil revenues and doubts about the United States continuing to remain a guarantor of regional stability. Quite coterminously, India is looking towards the Gulf for energy security besides fulfilling other geostrategic goals: this is an ‘East’ and ‘West’ where the ‘twain will meet

31668713074_d6ee271be8_k Courtesy: MEA flickr
25 January 2017

Revisiting India’s ‘Link West’ policy

The choice of the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be the chief guest at India’s 2017 Republic Day celebrations is an indication of the enhanced attention that the Indian government is according the Gulf countries. Many trade interests ally India to the UAE, but a deeper engagement is called for even as instability grows in the region

Shinzō_Abe_and_Donald_Trump_(1) Courtesy: Wikipedia
16 January 2017

A more robust Asia policy expected?

Trump’s cabinet has a preponderance of China hardliners, which has wider implications for the Asia Pacific region while some of its members view Narendra Modi as Reaganesque and a man of the times

vlcsnap-2017-01-12-17h43m30s200 Courtesy: Gateway House
12 January 2017

Keeping traditional bonds and strengthening them

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, who was in India to attend the ‘Vibrant Gujarat 2017’ Global Summit earlier this week, was hosted by Gateway House as he passed through Mumbai. Gateway House spoke to him about the need to improve the economic relationship between two countries that have always shared a historically strong bond