The landscape of international politics is constantly changing and posing a serious challenge to the existing global order for the last three decades. The emerging role of the different middle powers is key to shaping the power dynamics and has reduced the relative power of the U.S. and opened up the scope for emerging economies like China, India, South Africa, and Brazil. Robert Gilpin, a scholar of the Realism school, opined that the global order is a dynamic reflection of shifting power dynamics among states, historically marked by conflicts and restructuring the power equations.
Category: Commentary
Examining Allegations of Apartheid in the Israel-Palestine Conflict
I noticed that many people who refer to Israel as an apartheid state use the term to describe all of Palestine, including the State of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, instead of addressing each part separately. I believe that focusing on each part individually is the best strategy, as the West Bank and Gaza have their own respective authorities and government institutions. It would be unfair to lump them together with Israel. When we consider Israel, there are no signs or indications of apartheid aside from the inflammatory language used by some Knesset members. All citizens, whether Arab or Jewish, are free to do as they please. Similarly, in Gaza, in the absence of any Israelis, it is impossible to speak about apartheid.
UN-finished? Peace, Promises and Growing Disappointments
The result? A crescendo of global disappointment and a serious need for rethinking of the UN’s relevance in a world that has moved beyond its post-1945 landscape. Also, a legitimate question to ask is that as a common individual living in a fairly small country, why should one trust and rely on the UN to protect them in times of humanitarian crises and hold the perpetrators accountable, given the litany list of failures before us? A more casual way of asking the same question would be, ‘is the UN still relevant?’
Terrorism and Hunger Grip Haiti on the Brink
The once vibrant streets of Haiti, now echo with gunfire and the desperate cries of a nation in peril. Gang violence, a festering wound for years, has metastasised engulfing the country in a humanitarian catastrophe. Haiti is engulfed in anarchy and falling into the hands of notorious gang leader Barbecue.
CAA Protests Highlights Foreign Policy Illiteracy Among Indians
Four long years after the parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 11 March 2024 notified the rules for CAA. Though it has nothing much with domestic affairs, why do Muslims in India keep protesting? Is the CAA discriminatory against Muslims? What is the foreign policy angle of CAA?
The Perfect Timing for China’s Attack on Taiwan
Can we expect a third major conflict this year being China’s invasion of Taiwan? With the world engulfed already in two major conflicts where Taiwan’s ally United States has been distracted by Israel-Hamas War and Russia-Ukraine conflict, China might potentially seize this opportunity to attack Taiwan.