In The News

A Natural Alliance

Nayan Chanda November 30, 2009
Though India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US was being viewed as all form and no substance in the lead up to the trip, the result was the complete opposite. This conclusion is inescapable when one observes the stark contrast between the joint US-China statement – issued a week earlier – and the US-India statement. The former is a study in an uneasy business partnership made...

Mr. Singh Goes to Washington – Part II

David J. Karl November 25, 2009
Discussions between India’s Prime Minister Singh and US President Obama during the former’s visit to Washington this week touched on economic cooperation. What is unlikely to have been discussed, according to David J. Karl, president of the Asia Strategy Initiative, are bi-lateral problems that could rise from India’s growing economic power. In fact, India appears to be witnessing a quiet...

Mr. Singh Goes to Washington – Part I

Ashley J. Tellis November 23, 2009
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being honored as the first state visitor to the Obama White House, but he will not be in the same place since his last visit to Washington. President Obama’s recent trip to China shows how the US policy focus has shifted from the Bush years. Perhaps the biggest challenge, as Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace...

How to Halt the Spread of Nukes – Part II

Bharat Karnad November 11, 2009
President Obama may be worthy of the Noble Peace Prize if he can achieve a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons. But many obstacles stand in his way. New nuclear weapon states, transfer of weapon technology, and the strategic exigencies of balancing the threat of US military intervention all present serious hurdles to nuclear disarmament. Above all, India remains opposed to what...

How to Halt the Spread of Nukes – Part I

Bennett Ramberg November 9, 2009
A key element of US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy is nuclear disarmament, as evidenced by his personally shepherding the Security Council’s Resolution 1887, which seeks to halt the Bomb’s spread. However, according to nuclear proliferation expert Bennett Ramberg, this resolution does little to reduce nuclear armaments, and, most importantly, fails to tackle the issue of states that seek...

Iran and the West at a Crossroad – Part II

Deepti Choubey November 2, 2009
Iran’s refusal to send its enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to ensure the Islamic Republic is not developing nuclear weapons could have serious consequences. According to Deepti Choubey, Deputy Director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Iran risks uniting the major powers against it as well, increasing the skepticism of the rest of the...

Iran and the West at a Crossroad – Part I

Jamsheed K. Choksy October 30, 2009
Despite Iran’s recent equivocation over a deal crafted to lower the threat of the country producing nuclear weapons, there are signs that the Islamic Republic could, nevertheless, settle the issue, according to Iranian and International Studies professor Jamsheed K. Choksy. First, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime is feeling the pressure exerted by international sanctions not just in terms...