Why structural realists are wrong to predict that Russia will help the US against China
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin during a meeting. PHOTO: REUTERS
Why structural realists are wrong to predict that Russia will help the US against China
Russia will indeed seek to “balance” China in the future and arguably already is
Globally renowned structural realism theorist Professor John Mearsheimer shared his predictions about what he believes is an inevitable New Cold War between China and the US in an hour-long interview earlier this week with Pakistani journalist Ejaz Haider. I responded to what I regard as his perspective’s greatest shortcomings in my recent analysis for CGTN titled “A Respectful Rebuttal To Professor Mearsheimer’s China Predictions” that should before this piece for the proper background arguments. In a nutshell, I argue that structural realism has its limitations because it importantly doesn’t account for the Chinese leadership’s neoliberal-influenc
Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi during a press conference in 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Why the Indian Foreign Secretary will seek to bring Russia into the Indo-Pacific
Russia is becoming a relevant Indo-Pacific power contrary to the US’ recently expressed expectations
Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan
Shringla will travel to Russia next week on a multi-day visit aimed at discussing multiple topics of shared interest. The most important is to prepare for President Putin’s planned trip to India later this year after both sides claimed that last year’s annual summit was postponed because of Covid-19. The Indian diplomat’s visit will take place against the recent backdrop of Russia and India opening up an air travel bubble between their countries, New Delhi reaching an agreement with Beijing for the “synchronised disengagement” of their forces all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and America threatening to sanction India for its decision to go through with its pur
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting. PHOTO: AFP
Why Moscow’s upcoming anti-terrorist conference is a timely move
There should be serious consideration about the wisdom of proposing another round of Afghan-related talks
State Duma speaker Vyachseslav Volodin told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during talks earlier this week in Moscow that the Russian capital plans to host an upcoming anti-terrorist parliamentary conference between the representatives of their countries, China, Pakistan, Turkey, and Afghanistan later this year. It wouldn’t be the first such gathering between these parliamentary speakers since other meetings have taken place in the past, but this latest planned one takes on a heightened significance considering newly inaugurated President Biden’s decision to postpone his predecessor’s drawdown from Afghanistan. According to Volodin, the agenda will also include strengthening regional integration and combating drug trafficking,
Activists burn an effigy depicting Greta Thunberg in Delhi. PHOTO: REUTERS
Did tweets by Greta Thunberg and Rihanna help or harm the Indian farmers’ protest movement?
The resultant international scandal this caused brought the dark aspect of Indian online life to the forefront
The Indian government, celebrities, and many social media users are furious after environmental champion achieve its aims.
The Indian reaction can essentially be summarised as demanding that those two influential figures mind their own business. Some of the most extreme responses speculated that they were paid to tweet what they did and a few even ridiculously claimed that Pakistan’s ISI was secretly behind all of this. Those were all the wrong positions for them to take because they attacked the messenger without addressing the message that they were popularising, specifically India’s controversial decision to cut internet access to the protesting farmers. It’s difficult for them to accept, but
Did Iran really carry out an anti-Israeli terrorist attack in India?
It is too premature to grant credibility to India’s innuendo that Iran was involved in this attempted terrorist attack
Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka is now actively investigating what happened even though Iran strongly denied any role in the attack.
A quick review of these facts suggests that Iran might have been involved, but upon thinking about everything more deeply, a few facts don’t add up. The first is that Iran is regarded by its friends and foes alike as having very formidable unconventional warfare capabilities. This makes it unlikely that any attack that it allegedly carried out wouldn’t have led to some sort of casualties, instead only damaging a few vehicles. Secondly, it’s not part of Iran’s pattern of reported behaviour to telegraph threats by releasing non-lethal “trailers” of what it intends to do. It acts, and it does so decisively, not in the manner of what happened. The