Shows
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonRevolutionizing Society: ChatGPT & Generative AI's Impact on the FutureIn this podcast episode, Berit Anderson, COO of Future in Review, interviews Mark Anderson, CEO of Strategic News Service, about the impact of technological inventions on society and the unintended consequences that come with them.They discuss the impact of jet lag on health outcomes, the concept of hyperchange, and the potential impact of chat GPT on society.Mark Anderson expresses his lack of enthusiasm for GPT and highlights the unintended consequences of generative AI, including suicide, malpractice, and potential for war.He emphasizes the need for explainable AI and the establishment of...2023-04-1724 min
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonThe Significance of Revived US-Philippines Relationship in the Gathering Storm of the South China SeaBerit Anderson engages in a captivating conversation with Strategic News Service Asia Correspondent, Scott Foster. In this episode, Scott sheds light on the strategic importance of the Philippines in the South China Sea, exploring its military and economic significance in the region.As tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea, the conversation dives into the revived relationship between the Philippines, the US, and Japan, and what this means for the future of the region.Join us as we gain unique insights into the ever-evolving geopolitical landscape of Southeast Asia, and what it means...2023-04-0621 min
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonHow the CCP Manipulated the 737 MAX Crashes to Break Boeing's BackFuture in Review COO & podcast host Berit Anderson talks with Strategic News Service CEO Mark Anderson about his latest Global Report, which blows the cover on the misstated causes of the tragic 737 MAX crashes and how China perverted normal international investigative processes and timing to use these tragedies to do incalculable harm to Boeing.The goal of these podcasts is to help share SNS insights and ideas so that we can grow the SNS community and bring even more brilliance into our ranks. If this conversation resonates with you, please take a moment to share it with...2023-03-2821 min
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonThe Best Countries for Reshoring Your Supply ChainDescription: Future in Review podcast host and COO Berit Anderson talks with INVNT/IP CEO Evan Anderson about what factors companies should consider when relocating their supply chains - and which countries are best suited for manufacturing.The goal of these podcasts is to help share SNS insights and ideas so that we can grow the SNS community and bring even more brilliance into our ranks. If this conversation resonates with you, please take a moment to share it with your networks. ------------ Read the full Global Report on this subject at www...2023-03-2018 min
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonThe Chip Strategies of Microsoft, Apple & GoogleFuture in Review podcast host and COO Berit Anderson talks with Strategic News Service Senior Analyst Evan Anderson about how Microsoft, Apple, and Google are diving into the chip market and which other chip-related companies might win or lose because of it.The goal of these podcasts is to help share SNS insights and ideas so that we can grow the SNS community and bring even more brilliance into our ranks. If this conversation resonates with you, please take a moment to share it with your networks. ------------ Read the full Global Report...2023-03-1318 min
Future in Review Podcast w/ Berit AndersonThe Real Story About Microsoft, Google & OpenAI's ChatGPTFuture in Review podcast host & COO Berit Anderson talks with Strategic News Service CEO Mark Anderson about hyperchange, the problem with ChatGPT, and what’s really going on with Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI.Read the full Global Report on this subject at www.stratnews.com.Sign up for updates about the Future in Review conference at www.futureinreview.com.---------------------Sign up for a free 30-day trial of the SNS Global Report - The world's most reliable source of advanced information at the intersection of technology and the economy for 25 years. ht...2023-02-1020 min
StratNews GlobalWhen Chinese Communism Becomes A ‘Religion’The diplomatic boycott by some nations of the Winter Olympics being held in Beijing has once again drawn world attention towards human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. And religion does play a role, ironically in a so-called atheist state. The Chinese Communist Party sees religions as competitors, says James Millward, Professor of Intersocietal History at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. They're really trying to displace or de-centre religion for those people for whom it might be a central aspect of their lives; they want to replace that with the Chinese Communist Party as a focus...2022-02-1117 min
StratNews GlobalISIS Chief’s Killing Will End Perceptions That The US Is No Longer Interested In The War On TerrorThe recent US commando raid, which led to the killing of ISIS chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Syria, has left many counter-terrorism experts downplaying the operation and warning that his death will not prevent the resurgence of the group. Already, ISIS is expanding its base in both Iraq and Syria. However, Dr Adil Rasheed, Research Fellow and Coordinator of Counter-Terrorism Center, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) points out that the US operation should be seen as an encouraging sign by the international community. Dr Rasheed argues that with Washington’s focus on Ukraine and Ch...2022-02-0716 min
StratNews Global‘Myanmar Junta Hoped It Could Manage Coup Aftermath; It Has Not’A year after the junta seized power in Myanmar, the situation continues to be bleak: there’s no let-up in violence, the economy is in bad shape and the military keeps cracking down on opponents. But it hasn’t been able to consolidate control, says Thomas Kean, Editor-in-Chief of ‘Frontier Myanmar’, a fortnightly magazine. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Kean, who is also a senior consultant with the International Crisis Group, says the current military rule has both parallels and differences with 1988 when the military had seized power. Listen in for more.ou can catch all our epis...2022-02-0313 min
StratNews Global‘Houthi Drone Attacks Might Be Part Of Iran’s Pressure Tactics At JCPOA Talks’The recent Houthi drone attacks upon the UAE is significant as it has dragged another actor into the over six-year-long Yemen conflict which so far was being conducted between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Dr Alvite Ningthoujam, Assistant Professor at Symbiosis School of International Studies and an expert on West Asia believes that the timing of the attacks is significant as the Houthis – who are rapidly losing territory in Yemen – want to draw the attention of the international community. He adds however that given that there is an “Iranian fingerprint” as far as the supply of drones to Houthis are conc...2022-01-3116 min
StratNews Global‘NATO Has Talked The Talk, Now Needs To Walk The Walk’The Ukraine crisis shows no signs of waning; the United States has rejected Russia’s demand to bar Ukraine from NATO but diplomatic initiatives continue. Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have reaffirmed commitment to the long-standing ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is eyeing the long game and wants to be a player in the systemic rivalry between China and the United States, says Velina Tchakarova, director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy. And by doing so, Putin seeks to erase European powers from the equation, Velina told StratNews Global. Asked about the re...2022-01-2716 min
StratNews Global‘France & The West Have Lost The Information War In Mali’After the Malian junta pushed back elections by four years, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed harsh economic sanctions on the country. There have been huge protests in Mali against the sanctions, with most of the anger directed at former colonial power France which has had a troop presence in Mali for nearly a decade now. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Michael Shurkin, Director of Global Programs at 14 North Strategies, says neglecting the importance of building narratives and image has cost France and the western powers dear. He also dwells on the role of...2022-01-2018 min
StratNews Global‘North Korea Sees Missile Tests As An Opportunity By Which To Win Concessions’Tensions have been raised as North Korea continues to conduct ballistic missile tests. The tests which came after the United States put more sanctions on the DPRK has most people wondering as to how far Kim Jong Un is likely to go and what is likely to be the US’s response. Korea expert Professor Ramon Pacheco Pardo who is Professor of International Relations at King's College London and KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance believes that North Korea sees the tests as a “window of opportunity” for talks and win concessions from both South Korea and th...2022-01-1712 min
StratNews GlobalIsolate Or Engage, How Should ASEAN Deal With Myanmar Junta?A meeting of the foreign ministers of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that was to take place in Cambodia—the current chair of the 10-member bloc—next week has been postponed indefinitely. The official reason is that some members can’t make it due to other engagements but there’s more to it. The Malaysian foreign minister has said some members had reservations about Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the first by a head of government since last year’s military coup in Myanmar. The Cambodian leader justifies his engagement with the junta as...2022-01-1413 min
StratNews Global‘Galwan Video Meant To Project Xi Jinping Has Firm Border Policy’A video released by the Chinese official media on New Year’s Day shows troops with a Chinese flag and claims that the location was Galwan. Propaganda videos by the Chinese are not uncommon but this one was meant—mainly for Chinese audiences—to project that Xi Jinping has a fim border policy in place, says Tibetologist, historian and author Claude Arpi. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Arpi also dwells on the bridge that China is building across Pangong Lak. Listen in for more.You can catch all our episodes on apple music, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple...2022-01-0611 min
StratNews GlobalGabriel Boric Elected President: What It Means For ChileGabriel Boric, 35, will be Chile’s youngest president. The former student leader and Leftist candidate defeated his far-right rival José Antonio Kast in a highly polarising election in which the two candidates put forth starkly different visions for the Latin American nation. Both of them come from parties that have never governed Chile. In this podcast with StratNews Global, John Londregan, Professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University in the U.S. tells us about the road ahead for what was once South America’s most stable economy.You can catch all our episodes on apple mu...2021-12-2313 min
StratNews Global‘UAE’s High Profile Diplomacy Is Making It A Key Player In The Middle East’The recent flurry of high-profile visits conducted by the UAE suggests that the Emiratis are looking to not just bolster but balance ties with fellow countries in the region. The visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – the first time an Israeli PM has officially visited the UAE – occurring just after the UAE NSA Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Iran for talks with Iranian leaders is a case in point. Navdeep Suri, former Indian ambassador to the UAE says that such talks not just with Iran and Israel but with other nations such as Syria and even T...2021-12-2020 min
StratNews GlobalTablighi Ban: Saudi Arabia ‘Attempting Image Makeover’What’s behind Saudi Arabia’s decision to ban the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary movement launched in India nearly a century ago, which has a huge following, especially in South Asia? It’s an attempt by an authoritarian regime that has been accused of human rights abuses to repaint the image of the kingdom and its leader (Crown Prince Mohd bin Salman) in the West that has little knowledge about Islamic movements, says Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Ambassador Ahmad shares his views on the heart of the conflict. Listen...2021-12-1612 min
StratNews GlobalWhy Xi Jinping Is Doing What He Is DoingThe past few days/weeks have been especially busy for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his propaganda machinery. First, Xi ensured the Communist Party put him in the league of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. That means he can indefinitely stay in power. Then came the not-so-mysterious ‘lost and found’ episode involving tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a senior party functionary of sexual assault. The Women’s Tennis Association responded by suspending all its tournaments in China, even if that meant a huge revenue loss. Then came China’s exclusion from Joe Biden’s democracy summit. China went to th...2021-12-0912 min
StratNews GlobalPower Games By International Players Ensures Elections Will Not Bring Stability To LibyaThe United Nations has stated that the upcoming Libyan presidential elections is an “essential step” towards moving towards peace in this war-torn country. But 10 years on since the deposition of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and it seems that the elections though welcome will bring neither peace nor stability, to the country. Anil Trigunayat, former Indian ambassador to Libya, points out that many international players have key stakes in the country and are not willing to let them go. For instance, countries such as Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, UK and Russia all have influence in the eastern part of Liby...2021-12-0715 minStratNews Global‘Blanket Travel Bans Over Omicron Premature; India’s Approach Right’Some countries have imposed blanket travel bans to and from South Africa and other ‘at risk’ countries over a new strain of Covid-19 called Omicron. The move is premature, says Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of South African Medical Association and the first person to alert authorities in South Africa about patients showing symptoms of Covid-19 that’s different from what has been seen so far. India has adopted a strategy of not enforcing blanket travel bans but instead going in for testing of patients arriving from ‘at risk’ countries. On Wednesday, India tested nearly 3,500 people who had come in from such...2021-12-0210 min
StratNews GlobalBiden’s Summit For Democracy Has A Liberal Dose Of GeopoliticsIn line with his election campaign pledge, Joe Biden is set to host the first summit for democracy on December 9 and 10. Invites for the virtual event have been sent to 110 participants, including Taiwan, which the United States does not recognize as an independent nation. India is on the list of invitees but Russia is not, nor is China. The U.S. is currently not well poised to host such an event, says former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. “If you are going to have a global summit on democracy in order to send a message to authoritarian regimes, you ha...2021-11-2913 min
StratNews Global‘European governments are running out of options as to how to get people to vaccinate’Despite mandatory lockdowns and warnings that those still unvaccinated will not be able to avail of basic services, a section of the European public continues to refuse to get the vaccine. The results have been dire with the fourth wave of Covid cases already having hit Germany which now threatens to engulf other member countries in the continent. Velina Tchakarova, director at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy in Vienna believes that ignorance heightened by propaganda by far-right groups along with the emergence of dangerous online groups – some of them believed to be affiliated to QAnon – who are...2021-11-2517 min
StratNews GlobalClimate Targets: India Has Often ‘Underpromised But Overdelivered’The bold climate goals announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow are achievable, says Glen Peters, Research Director at the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo. The way India has rolled out solar and wind energy in the last five years has been quite impressive, Peters told StratNews Global in a podcast, adding that by 2030 India may well overdeliver the targets it has set for itself, as it has done before. Regarding fingers being pointed at India for changing the text from “phasing out” coal to “phasing down” coal, Peters says the criticism is unfair. Tune in...2021-11-1811 min
StratNews Global‘Pak’s Ability To Influence Afghan Economic Reconstruction Limited’India will remain relevant to Afghanistan and vice-versa despite all the propaganda peddled by Pakistan, as was exemplified by the success of the Delhi Security Dialogue that was attended by seven other countries, says PS Raghavan, former Indian Ambassador to Russia. Pakistan’s intention is to show that it is actually driving events in Afghanistan but Afghanistan’s immediate needs are a far cry from what Pakistan can deliver, Ambassador Raghavan, who has also served as Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), told StratNews Global. Listen in for more.Follow us on Soci...2021-11-1111 min
StratNews GlobalClimate Change: India Blazing The Trail, Has Raised The BarAs the globe heats up at a pace faster than expected, India has been doing its bit under the Paris agreement, in fact, bettering it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced enhanced targets at the Glasgow UN climate conference that’s currently underway. And in a way, nudged the so-called developed world to step up. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Ulka Kelkar, Director, Climate programme, World Resources Institute, India, talks about India being part of the solution and the international green contribution it has been making. Tune in for more.Follow us on So...2021-11-0510 min
StratNews Global‘ASEAN Minus One’: Patience With Myanmar Junta Running ThinThis week’s ASEAN summit had a notable omission—Myanmar—after the 10-member bloc barred the junta leader from attending. Frustration among some ASEAN countries has been growing after the junta accepted the five-point proposal in April but went back on it, lately refusing to allow the ASEAN envoy from meeting detained state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen who will take over as the group’s chair next year described the situation as ‘ASEAN minus one’. Cambodia’s closest relationship is with China and Cambodia taking a position sent an implicit signal that China is also not ha...2021-10-2810 min
StratNews GlobalBehind The Imran-Bajwa Tussle Over ISI ChiefFor someone often described as an ‘army prop’, it would seem rather unusual for Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to disagree with Army chief Gen Bajwa’s decision to transfer ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as a Corps commander. Gen Faiz is considered close to Imran and has gone out of the way to help him politically. So what’s at the heart of the tussle? The Pakistani army guards institutional autonomy over everything else, says Lt Gen Harish Thukral (Retd), who has served as defence attaché at the Indian mission in Islamabad. The ISI chief may just have cros...2021-10-2217 min
StratNews GlobalPriorities And Challenges As India Widens Space EcosystemThe Indian space industry, which had for long been an exclusive domain of the government, has got a fillip in the form of the Indian Space Association (ISpA). Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week, the industry association of space and satellite companies, both private and public, will be the unified voice of all relevant stakeholders. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), Director General of ISpA, outlines what’s high on the association’s to-do list and challenges. Listen in for more.StratNewsGlobal is your...2021-10-1409 min
StratNews GlobalAs China Flexes Military Might Against Taiwan, The Right DeterrenceTension with China is at its worst in four decades, says Taiwan’s defence minister, pushing for more military spending. In the past week, there’s been a spurt in the number of Chinese military planes penetrating Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. A host of factors may have contributed to China’s coercion, says J. Michael Cole, a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, DC. China is using military assertiveness as a demonstration that it will not be deterred, not be dictated to and that it also has the ability to set the...2021-10-0711 min
StratNews GlobalWhat Could The New German Govt Look Like? The Three OptionsThe German elections have thrown up a fractured mandate, with the Social Democrats emerging as the single largest party. Close behind are the Christian Democrats (outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party). Negotiations to form a ruling coalition could take time; it took over five months the last time around in 2017. In this podcast, Velina Tchakarova, director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, explains what options are possible. She also talks about its implications for Europe and on Sino-German ties. Listen in for more.Podcast Producer : Manas R. Tarai2021-09-3016 min
StratNews Global‘Southeast Asia Will Be Immediate Recipient Of Chinese Response To AUKUS’AUKUS, the trilateral security pact involving Australia, the U.S. and the UK, has not just angered China and France but some drawn criticism from some ASEAN member states as well. There’s no unanimity in the 10-member bloc on the issue though. Indonesia and Malaysia have warned that the deal, which will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines, could trigger an arms race in the region. But the Philippines says the pact will maintain the balance of power in the region. Despite the lack of coherence across Southeast Asian countries, we haven’t really seen negative implications for the resp...2021-09-2309 min
StratNews GlobalClimate Change: ‘Developed World Can Learn From Developing Nations’During his visit to New Delhi earlier this week, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he expects India to announce more goals in the run-up to the UN climate conference in Glasgow later this year. The issue of climate funding also came up during his talks with the Indian leadership. Kerry said six big American banks had committed to investing over $4 trillion to help countries make the transition to clean energy. A $100 billion annual climate fund by developed nations to help developing nations cope with the effects of climate change, which was talked about at the climate conference...2021-09-1614 min
StratNews Global‘Accommodating Taliban Regime Will Put U.S. Credibility Under Scrutiny’Not many countries have made their intent clear about if and how they intend to deal with the new Taliban government in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did spell out the U.S. stance earlier this week. If the Taliban upholds basic rights, it's a government we can work with; if it doesn’t, we won’t, Blinken told Tolo News in an exclusive interview. Serious questions are going to arise if the Americans are actually going to start according to recognition or enter into some degree of accommodation with a regime like the Taliban, Sushant Sareen, Senior Fell...2021-09-1015 min
StratNews Global'India's Problem Remains Pak-Based Terror Groups, Not Al-Qaeda Or ISIS'The US withdrawal from Afghanistan has left India worried about the possible fallout of militant groups such as the Al Qaeda and the ISIS-Khorasan launching attacks on the country. However, Dr AJAY SAHNI, a terrorism expert and executive director for the Institute for Conflict Management believes that such fears are groundless. Speaking to ASHWIN AHMAD, Sahni believes that these global militant groups have been trying to carry out jihad in India (Al Qaeda since 1996 and Islamic State since 2014) with little success. Coming to India itself, Sahni states radicalization of Indian Muslims and the activation of Indian sleeper cells in J...2021-09-0717 min
StratNews GlobalWhen A Global War On Terror ‘Ends’ With American National InterestsThe two-decade-long U.S. military operation in Afghanistan can be encapsulated thus: get cracking after terror attacks on American soil, co-opt allies in the name of a global war on terror, invest heavily monetary and otherwise without a clear-cut end objective, make several errors along the way and talk to the same terrorists you are fighting. without consulting allies and partners. No doubt, the hasty and messy U.S. retreat from Afghanistan has left America staring at tough questions, both at home and abroad. The moment America decided to open talks with the Taliban and deal with them, there...2021-09-0208 min
StratNews GlobalBiden’s Lack Of Credibility On Afghanistan Is Hurting Kamala HarrisThe recent visit by US Vice President Kamala Harris should have been lauded in normal times. Despite her diplomatic faux pas in Guatemala, Harris was entrusted by the Biden administration to visit two key allies, Singapore and Vietnam, and emphasise to them and the region that the US remained committed to its Indo-Pacific vision. Former ambassador to Japan and Southeast Asia expert Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa however believes that despite Harris having done all this admirably, the attention of the ASEAN nations would be focused on the bungling of the US president Joe Biden on Afghanistan. Speaking with Ashwin Ahmad, Wa...2021-08-3017 min
StratNews Global‘Pakistan Will Try To Cut India’s Profile, Presence In Afghanistan’If the Taliban pride themselves in ‘winning the war against the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan, there’s one nation that’s equally euphoric if not more. “Pakistan saw the contest that was taking place in Afghanistan as a contest between a regime that was friendly towards India and not so friendly towards Pakistan. So the Taliban victory is seen in that sense as a Pakistani victory,” says Jayant Prasad, former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan. Pakistan will try and do its utmost to see that the Indian presence in Afghanistan is cut to size and that India is not abl...2021-08-2614 min
StratNews GlobalCauldron Of Terror: How Will ISIS, Al-Qaeda And Taliban Adjust To One AnotherThe entry of the Taliban government in Afghanistan has not only stirred up the Middle East but has brought together various terror groups such as the Al-Qaeda, ISIS and the Taliban into close proximity with one another, leading one to ask several questions. How will major Middle Eastern actors such as Iran and Saudi Arabia react to the Taliban? Will Shia Iran eventually clash with Sunni Taliban forces? Will jihadi groups such as ISIS and the Taliban who have fought each other in the past be able to put aside their differences and form a loosely unified jihadi coalition...2021-08-2315 min
StratNews Global‘China Will Never Allow A Détente In The Korean Peninsula’ The recently held joint military drills by the US and South Korea has predictably provoked a storm from North Korea who has called these drills a “security crisis” and had threatened to upgrade its military and nuclear arsenal. Former ambassador and Korea expert Vishnu Prakashbelieves Pyongyang is using these drills as a pretext to raise the rhetoric to gain President Biden’s attention but what should one really be focussing on is China. Prakash believes Beijing, which will be watching events closely, will do everything it can to prevent any form of détente as they fear American boots in North...2021-08-1816 min
StratNews GlobalGlobal Warming: ‘Paris Climate Commitments Have To Be Upped’The planet is heating up at an alarming rate and if it continues, many of the adverse effects may well be irreversible. The time to act is now, says the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The effects of global warming are quite stark: stronger and frequent tropical cyclones, rising sea levels, intense heat waves and erratic monsoon. Countries need to better the climate commitments made at the Paris climate summit in 2015, Prof. Krishna AchutaRao of the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at IIT Delhi told StratNews Global. He hopes world leaders will keep the climate...2021-08-1213 min
StratNews Global‘Tunisia Is In Crisis But It Should Soon Return To Democracy’The euphoria of the ‘Arab Spring’ seems to be well and truly over for Tunisia. The recent sacking of the prime minister and the suspension of Parliament by President Kais Saied seems to suggest that the transition from dictatorship to parliamentary democracy – Tunisia was the only country in the Arab Spring who managed to do so – has failed. But Africa expert and former Indian ambassador to Libya Anil Trigunayat does not think so. In an interview with Ashwin Ahmad, the ambassador points out that the Tunisian people are supporting Saied out of compulsion. A collapsing economy, lack of stable governan...2021-08-0917 min
StratNews GlobalMalaysia: An Embattled Prime Minister, Trust Vote & Covid-19Malaysia is currently battling both politics and the pandemic. A spike in the Covid-19 infections has fuelled public anger. And Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who the Opposition claims has lost his majority, insists he will stay on as he has the numbers. Parliament has been suspended, ostensibly after some of its members were found to be infected with the virus. Muhyiddin says he will take a floor test when the House reconvenes next month; no date given so far. He doesn’t have enough numbers as yet, says James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania, Au...2021-08-0509 min
StratNews Global‘During His Visit, Xi Jinping Tried To Alienate Tibetans From Tibet’Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Tibet, his first as Chinese President, coincided with Beijing marking 70 years of its control over the region. It’s also the centenary year of the Chinese Communist Party. He came to tell the world that 70 years of existence of the Chinese regime in Tibet is a success story but it is not, says Tenzin Lekshay, Spokesperson of the Central Tibetan Administration. During the visit, he praised all ethnic groups barring Tibetans; he tried to take away the ownership of Tibet from Tibetans, Lekshay told StratNews Global. Listen in for more.2021-07-2910 min
StratNews Global‘Pegasus Scandal Shows Need For International Cyber Law, But Nations Don’t Want It’The Pegasus spyware scandal has raised much debate about the need to safeguard privacy and many cyber experts argue one of the best ways to do that is through legislation. But Dr Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate, and one of the world’s leading experts on cyber law, tells Ashwin Ahmad that currently there is a vacuum as far as cyber security laws are concerned. He feels that this is due to the fact most nations do not want to be named and shamed for their covert and overt activities in cyberspace and thus the onus remains on nati...2021-07-2615 min
StratNews Global‘Defense Of Japan’ 2021: The Top Three TakeawaysThe recently released white paper by Japan’s Ministry of Defense has a tone and tenor quite different from the documents of earlier years. To begin with, the cover has the picture of a samurai on horseback, compared to that of Mount Fuji or cherry blossoms in the previous years. In this podcast with StratNews Global, Robert Ward, director of geo-economics and strategy at The International Institute for Strategic Studies and head of the Japan Chair, lists the top three standout elements in the document. Tune in for more.Podcast Producer: Manas R. Tarai2021-07-2214 min
StratNews GlobalNepal Supreme Court Verdict Goes Beyond Oli’s OusterWith Sher Bahadur Deuba taking over as Nepal’s Prime Minister as ordered by the country’s Supreme Court, it’s curtains on the political drama playing out since December last year by KP Sharma Oli who quit to make way for Deuba. But the political instability may not be over till Deuba proves his majority on the floor of the House. The court verdict is unprecedented in more ways than one, Ranjit Rae, former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, told StratNews Global. Tune in for more.Podcast Cover : Manas R. Tarai2021-07-1510 min
StratNews GlobalPakistan’s Influence With Taliban Suggests India Might Need To Deal With Some Harsh RealitiesUnofficial reports claiming India has opened backchannel talks with the Taliban suggest that New Delhi’s policy of only engaging with the Afghan government may now be coming to an end. But even if India is reportedly doing so the window of opportunity remains small. As Shalini Chawla, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies - and an expert on Pakistan and Afghanistan - pointed out to Ashwin Ahmad the Taliban has made it clear that they have “shared values and culture with Pakistan” while with India they seek “peaceful co-existence.” This statement which brings out the disparity wit...2021-07-1215 min
StratNews GlobalCrude On Fire: 'The Oil Market Has To Be Managed'The deadlock among members of OPEC+, the bloc of 23 oil-producing countries, over a deal on increasing output has led to a crude shock, quite literally. As uncertainty prevailed, oil prices rose. As the UAE insisted that its output quota be revised upwards, Saudi Arabia—the largest oil producer in the group—and Russia didn’t agree. In this podcast with StratNews Global, energy economist Anas Alhajji explains the nub of the discord, what it means for the oil market and why despite being a votary of free-market economics he strongly believes the oil market has to be managed. Tune in for...2021-07-0817 min
StratNews Global'Putin Wants To Normalise Relations With EU, But On His Terms'The recent insistence by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the European Union (EU) should have a face-to-face summit meeting with President Putin has raised questions as to whether the main EU nations – Germany and France – are softening their stance towards Russia. If so, what would that mean for both Brussels and Moscow? In this interview Professor Bhaswati Sarkar, Centre of European Studies, JNU tells Ashwin Ahmad that France and Germany’s stance is nothing new. On France’s side, President Macron has made continued visits to Russia even during the pandemic while Germany conscious of its economic interests has constant...2021-07-0512 min
StratNews Global‘Can’t Replicate Singapore’s Covid-19 Model In India’Singapore is changing the narrative or at least attempting to, when it comes to dealing, rather living, with Covid-19. The city-state with a population of under six million has distinct advantages such as aggressive contact tracing and a speedy vaccination rate (it intends to inoculate two-thirds of its population by August 9, its national day). Can the model be replicated in India? Absolutely not, says Dr Giridhara R Babu, Professor and Head, Life Course Epidemiology at the Public Health Foundation of India. “The plan is at one extreme, expecting the disease to be endemic. On the other extreme are countries that...2021-07-0110 min
StratNews Global‘China Will Look To Ensure India Cannot Invest In Advantageous Areas In Iran’The Biden administration may be looking to return to the JCPOA deal, but some observers feel that the recent measures applied by Washington will backfire. Former ambassador and the Middle East authority KP Fabian tells Ashwin Ahmad that the recent “taking down” of Iranian websites by the US along with the continuation of Trump’s sanctions on Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi has emboldened Iran’s hardliners and ensured Iranians will back him regardless of his standing at home. Fabian also points out that such actions will push Iran even closer to Russia and China something that was already slated to be on...2021-06-2814 min
StratNews Global‘Xi Jinping Is A One-Note Musician, He Just Cracks Down’Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s largest-selling pro-democracy newspaper closed down on Thursday. Authorities made sure the 26-year-old tabloid couldn’t pay its journalists; many of the top editorial staff have been arrested. Its founder Jimmy Lai is already behind bars. All this under the provisions of the draconian National Security Law that was clamped by Beijing last year. The government conducted an incredibly harsh campaign against our journalists, says Mark Simon, adviser to Jimmy Lai. Xi Jinping is determined to end press freedom, Simon told StratNews Global. Listen in for more.Podcast Producer :Manas R. Tarai 2021-06-2511 min
StratNews GlobalIndia Must Step Up Its Maritime Presence In East Africa To Help Counter ChinaCompetition is growing between India and China to win over Africa both on the economic level. The launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January this year – the largest free trade area in the world – has seen both nations increase high-level visits, lines of credit and investments to the continent. However, as former ambassador and Africa expert Anil Trigunayat points out, India must remain conscious of its security concerns too especially with regard to East Africa. In an interview with Ashwin Ahmad the ambassador points out China’s strong naval presence in the Horn of Africa and its repor...2021-06-2210 min
StratNews Global'Myanmar Junta’s Thinking About Aung San Suu Kyi Is Flawed’More than four months since the military seized power in Myanmar, there has been no let-up in protests despite a brutal crackdown by the junta. There’s a sense of loss now, a sense of shock among the people who had thought there would be continuity after Aung San Suu Kyi’s party NLD won a thumping majority in the elections last year, says Ben Dunant, Editor-at-large of 'Frontier Myanmar', a Yangon-based news magazine. The junta relies on robust support from China and Russia, and the military feels a strong entitlement to rule, he told StratNews Global. On the raft of c...2021-06-1710 min
StratNews Global‘India Should Not Worry Too Much About China-Iran Strategic Partnership’The coming of the Biden administration has laid focus on the JCPOA and a possible deal emerging post the Vienna talks. Speaking to Ashwin Ahmad, Kabir Taneja, Fellow at the ORF and West Asia expert believes that both sides want a deal and that is something that is not likely to change even if a conservative candidate should emerge as president post the Iranian elections. Having said this, he points out that the US will be more than aware that any resumption of the deal could lead to increased funding to Iran’s proxies and will be looking to ba...2021-06-1313 min
StratNews Global‘China Trying To Legitimise Junta; India Can Play Pivotal Role In Myanmar’More than four months after the military coup in Myanmar, the spiral of protests, violence, and deaths continue. The five-point consensus plan agreed upon by the 10-nation bloc ASEAN has gone nowhere with the Myanmarese junta dragging its feet over it on the pretext that conditions are not suitable. China, which has strategic and business interests in Myanmar, has been trying to legitimize the junta, says Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate with the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute, Malaysia. Earlier, when Aung San Suu Kyi was in prison, India had managed to find a neutral position while being...2021-06-1014 min
StratNews GlobalIndia Should Mediate In Israel-Palestine Peace ProcessIsrael and Israeli politics are in a state of flux as a new coalition of parties seeks to come together to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power. Though Netanyahu has time to take apart the coalition which will only be sworn in in a week’s time ‘Bibi fatigue’ may ensure that he may not be able to do so. In an interview with Ashwin Ahmad, Professor Colin Shindler emeritus professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and author of a prize-winning book on the Israeli Right states that even if Netanyahu manages to undermine the coalit...2021-06-0620 min
StratNews Global‘Covid-19 Pretty Much A Repeat Of The Original SARS Story’The lab leak theory pertaining to the origin of SARS-Cov-2—the pathogen that causes Covid-19—is now gaining traction after being dismissed as a conspiracy theory last year. With fingers pointed at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, there have been calls to probe the origin of the pandemic. China is really not interested in finding out the source, says Dr. Tun-Hou Lee, Professor of Virology (Emeritus) at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston, USA. It's pretty much a repeat of what happened with SARS in 2002-2003 and China needs to reform its top-down political system that is qui...2021-06-0319 min
StratNews GlobalJaishankar’s Meet With US Intel Chief Sends A Strong SignalExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent meetings with key officials in the United States have showcased not the strength but the extent of India-US relations. As StratNews Global Editor-in-chief Nitin Gokhale tells Ashwin Ahmad the publicising of Jaishankar’s meeting with the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines will be viewed with keen interest as normally the US national intelligence would be expected to speak to the national security establishment in India rather than the MEA. The fact that the news of the meeting was tweeted by the External Affairs Minister himself is a sign of the growing confide...2021-05-2908 min
StratNews GlobalNew IT Rules: ‘Opening Backdoor Of A System Makes It Vulnerable’As India’s new IT rules kicked in on Wednesday, WhatsApp took the government to court. Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister of Communications and IT, tried to allay fears by saying the government is committed to ensuring the right to privacy for its citizens but it also has to maintain law and order and ensure national security. Traceability of problematic content is a contentious issue as it could mean compromising end-to-end encryption and user privacy. If you are opening an entire system of communications, you are leaving it vulnerable to hackers, says Kazim Rizvi, founding director of policy thi...2021-05-2718 min
StratNews GlobalHamas-Fatah alliance necessary for lasting peace in GazaThe recent announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is good news and could perhaps pave the way for a more durable peace. Former ambassador and West Asia analyst Anil Trigunayat tells Ashwin Ahmadthat if the ceasefire holds for the next 10-12 days it could pave the way for direct negotiations. But he also adds that any lasting peace would be conditional on an alliance or a unity government between Hamas and Fatah. Without this any further negotiation on an Israel-Palestinian solution will be impossible.Podcast Producer : Manas R. Tarai 2021-05-2315 min
StratNews GlobalTaiwan’s Covid Surge: From Pilot Breaking Quarantine To Hostess TeahousesFor over 14 months, Taiwan was seen as a role model when it came to containing the pandemic. That changed in the past couple of weeks, with over 1500 cases of community transmission detected. How did that happen? A combination of factors led to the surge in infections, as Professor Chunhuei Chi, Director, Center for Global Health at Oregon State University told StratNews Global. Add to that shortage of vaccines and the earlier reluctance of people to get inoculated as they saw no need. Listen in for more.Podcast Producer : Manas R. Tarai2021-05-2010 minStratNews GlobalChina will soon realise its ‘wolf-warrior diplomacy’ has consequencesGiven their strong relations, the recent China Bangladesh tit-for-tat was a surprise to many. The Chinese warning to Dhaka that its bid to get closer to the Quad would “substantially damage relations” was followed up by an equally strong but polite response from Bangladesh asking China to refrain from “interference” in its foreign policy. In an in-house discussion StratNewsGlobal Editor-in-chief Nitin Gokhale told Ashwin Ahmad that Bangladesh’s recent economic development over the past two years had ensured the deferential attitude Dhaka has shown towards Beijing for the past decade or so was slowly changing. Such an attitude has ramifications...2021-05-1511 min
StratNews GlobalRocket Debris Result Of China’s ‘Irresponsible Behaviour’China may have defended the uncontrolled re-entry of its rocket, instead blaming the West for running a ‘smear campaign’ against it but not everyone is convinced. This is irresponsible behaviour, says former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly who has logged over 500 hours in space. There are agreements that stipulate rockets of the size as big as the Chinese one must have a controlled re-entry but China designed the rocket without that capability, he told StrateNews Global. There should be consequences for not playing by the rules, added Kelly. He also talked about space junk, which he says is a bigger prob...2021-05-1309 min
StratNews GlobalNeed Calibrated Lockdowns, Not Nationwide One: Dr Raman GangakhedkarSome experts have suggested that a nationwide lockdown in India now may help provide some relief from the exponential surge in Covid-19 cases. But Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, former head of the Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), advises against any such move. I think the best solution is calibrated lockdown and micro-containment zones as a nationwide lockdown would result in massive collateral damage, he told StratNews Global. We need to decentralise our approach, use our testing resources judiciously and push for massive vaccination rollout, he added. Listen in for more.Podcast Producer...2021-05-0632 min
StratNews Global‘Like HIV, SARS Can Cause Long Term Infections’The current spike in the number of Coronavirus cases in India can be attributed to a number of factors, including new variants of the pathogen, says Ravi Gupta, Professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge. There’s no evidence yet of any of the mutated strains being more dangerous than the original one, he told StratNews Global.Prof. Gupta, who was named last year as one of Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of the Year’ in recognition of his work to bring about the second-ever cure of an HIV-infected person (The London Patient), has been focus...2021-04-2911 min
StratNews Global‘We Live With Radiation; Each Time We Eat A Banana, We Eat Radioactivity’Japan’s decision to release treated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been met with stiff opposition from China, Taiwan and South Korea. China has even dared Japan’s leaders to drink that water if they feel it’s safe. Japan says the water will be free of radioactive materials barring small amounts of tritium (an isotope of hydrogen), extremely diluted and then gradually released into the Pacific Ocean over decades. The U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have backed Japan’s stand. Brent Heuser, Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineer...2021-04-2217 min
StratNews Global‘Singapore’s Leadership Catchment Pool Continues To Shrink’In the uninterrupted six decades that the People’s Action Party (PAP) has ruled Singapore, leadership succession has been carefully choreographed well in advance and executed. That plan has now gone awry, with prime minister-in-waiting Heng Swee Keat announcing that he was bowing out to make way for younger leaders. He wasn’t up to the job in the first place, says Michael Barr, who teaches international relations at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. That someone like him was appointed shows the ‘serious systemic problem that Singapore faces in its standard of governance’, Prof. Barr told StratNews Global. Since the PAP...2021-04-1612 min
StratNews GlobalNetanyahu And The Cycle Of Israeli ElectionsDespite four elections in two years, Israel once again seems headed for a coalition government, with no party getting a decisive mandate. After consulting 13 political parties earlier this week, President Rivilin reluctantly gave Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to try and stitch a ruling coalition. The trial against Netanyahu, who faces charges of corruption, breach of trust, and fraud, resumed this week. He has denied the charges against him but his image has taken a beating, as Navtej Sarna, former Indian ambassador to Israel, says. Putting together a coalition will be tough but any trickery that enables Netanyahu to cling...2021-04-0811 min
StratNews Global‘Myanmarese Military Will Have To Contend With A Restive Population’Two months into the military coup in Myanmar, over 400 people have been killed in the brutal crackdown by the army that has sprayed bullets and even used airstrikes against its own citizens. It’s reprehensible but the military wants to ensure that it operates from a position of strength, says Pratap Heblikar, former Special Secretary to the Government of India. “I think the military has gone far too down the road to come back to a point where it can sit and talk to the people,” he told StratNews Global, adding, with armed ethnic groups pushing back, the military will h...2021-04-0119 min
StratNews GlobalThe Saudis Have Many Reasons To Stop The War In Yemen: Waiel AwwadMore than six years into the war in Yemen, which has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Saudi Arabia has come up with a proposal to end the conflict that has left millions starving and displaced. The rebel Houthis aren’t too happy with the offer that includes partly lifting the blockade on some airports and seaports. Earlier attempts at peace have failed; will it work this time around? The new administration in the United States has said that the war in Yemen should stop. Besides, it has also ended support to offensive operations by its allies in the...2021-03-2511 min
StratNews GlobalIndo-Pacific Tilt: ‘UK Focus On Trade, Balancing China’s Rise’The Integrated Review released by the United Kingdom earlier this week, which sets out strategies for national security and international policies, expresses the country’s intent to pursue deeper engagement in the Indo-Pacific. Britain feels the rules of the world are increasingly set in Asia, and it wants to play a part in shaping those rules, says James Crabtree, faculty member at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. After leaving the European Union, the UK eyes Asian trade deals and is also keen on playing some role in the security decisions that are taken around Asia, Prof...2021-03-1813 minStratNews Global‘Patriotic’ Twist To Hong Kong Election Laws: ‘Xi Jinping Wants Total Control’As early as this week, China’s rubber stamp Parliament could endorse a Communist Party proposal prescribing that only patriots should govern Hong Kong, the former British colony which was handed over to China in 1997 under an agreement that the bustling global financial centre would have greater autonomy, its own judicial system and a set of personal freedoms that’s barred in mainland China. The new changes to Hong Kong’s electoral laws suggested by Beijing is the complete dismantling of whatever remains of formal democracy, says Benedict Rogers, chief executive of Hong Kong Watch. There seems to be a desi...2021-03-1111 minStratNews Global‘Interim Govt Plan In Myanmar Must Include Other Ethnic Groups’As casualties from the junta’s crackdown against protesters rise, there has been a concerted attempt to go after online infrastructure to prevent mass mobilization on the streets. It’s a two-pronged approach, says Dr James Gomez, Regional Director of Asia Centre, a Bangkok-headquartered think tank. One approach is to throttle internet speed to frustrate users; the other is a total internet shutdown on the lines of what’s in place in Rakhine and Chin, Dr Gomez told StratNews Global. Any recognition of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party’s plans to form an ‘interim government’ to rival the junta must hav...2021-03-0415 minStratNews GlobalAfter Court Setback, Nepal PM Oli ‘Under Pressure To Quit’After Nepal’s Supreme Court reinstated the lower House of Parliament, calling its dissolution unconstitutional, what’s the way forward for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who, amid a raging power struggle within the ruling party, recommended that the House of Representatives be dissolved? Oli will either have to resign or face Parliament where he has to prove his majority, says Yubaraj Ghimire, journalist and Editor of deshsanchar.com. Oli is under pressure from his own followers to step down and give a chance to (salvage) party unity, Ghimire told StratNews Global. One faction of the ruling NCP led by f...2021-02-2513 minStratNews GlobalIndia Has Two-Facet Independent Policy On Myanmar: Former Envoy Rajiv BhatiaAs expected, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced he will impose sanctions on military leaders of Myanmar who ordered the coup that deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others. Strong export controls will be imposed, he said, asking the Myanmarese military to relinquish power and release the detained civilian leadership. In his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week, both leaders discussed the developments in Myanmar. Even if the Biden administration steps up pressure on Delhi to join in the campaign to bring back democracy in Myanmar, India will persuade...2021-02-1111 minStratNews Global‘Oli Seeking India’s Support For Holding Snap Polls In Nepal’Constant squabbling over power sharing between two factions of the Nepal Communist Party, one led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the other by Prachanda, has pushed the country to the brink of snap polls (slated for April-May) after the President accepted Oli’s recommendation to dissolve the lower house of Parliament and go for fresh elections. Oli, who has been expelled from the party by the rival faction, is trying to seek India’s support for holding the elections, says Kamal Dev Bhattarai, a Kathmandu-based journalist writing on Nepal’s political and foreign affairs. With a caretaker govern...2021-01-2811 minStratNews GlobalKashmir Won't Become An Obstacle: Former Foreign Secy Nirupama Menon RaoNEW DELHI: Having taken over the reins of a deeply polarised nation, Joe Biden has his job cut out. Tackling the pandemic that has killed over 400,000 Americans so far, the highest in any country, and the adverse economic fallout will be his immediate focus, says Nirupama Menon Rao, former Indian foreign secretary. As far as ties with India are concerned, policy makers here should not lose sleep that there has been a change in U.S. administration as the bilateral relationship is already on a forward trajectory, she told StratNews Global Editor Surya Gangadharan. The strategic value of the...2021-01-2314 minStratNews GlobalWings For Make In India In Defence, More In StoreIn the biggest push yet to ‘Make in India’ in the defence sector, the government has cleared a ₹48,000-crore deal to buy 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It’s billed as a game changer for the domestic aerospace industry, including small enterprises. In this episode of ‘Simply Nitin’, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale gives a lowdown on more indigenous Defence projects in the offing and how India’s quest for self-reliance in this crucial sector is poised.#Indian #IAF #Tejas Podcast Producer : Manas R. Tarai2021-01-1715 minStratNews GlobalU.S. Strategy For Indo-Pacific: What It Means For IndiaNew Delhi: The Trump administration, on January 12, declassified a ten-page document on its Indo-Pacific strategy, including 'accelerating India’s rise,' blocking China from establishing 'illiberal spheres of influence,' and maintaining 'U.S. strategic primacy' in the region. The document and strategy, approved in February 2018, has an original 'Declassify On' date of December 31, 2042.On 'Talking Point', Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, India's Former Foreign Secretary and Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd.), India's Former Chief of the Naval Staff discuss the U.S.' Indo-Pacific strategy, what policy threads the Biden administration is likely to pick up in constraining an ag...2021-01-1733 minStratNews GlobalNSA Doval's Kabul Trip; No Boots On The Ground, Increased Training Likely: Academic Avinash PaliwalOn talking to the Taliban, Dr Paliwal argued, "it can't afford to be seen as talking to India. This is a compulsion that any Taliban leader, whether a military shura or political shura leader, sitting in Quetta, in Doha will very clearly say, that look, if we start talking to the Indians openly, we will have a lot of questions and a lot of costs from the ISI, from Pakistan. That is a compulsion that they have not really been able to liberate themselves out of. So, I would see the Taliban openly talking to India as the ultimate litmus...2021-01-1421 minStratNews GlobalPandemic Aftershocks, Myanmar Politics To Impact Chinese Infra ProjectsWith just days to go before Joe Biden takes charge as U.S. President, China is on a diplomatic overreach. Foreign Minister Wang Yi began a six-day visit to four ASEAN countries earlier this week. His first stop was Myanmar, which is a neighbour to both China and India. His visit comes less than three months after India’s foreign secretary and army chief’s joint trip. In Myanmar, Wang Yi made it a point to mention he was the first foreign minister to come calling after the Myanmar elections, which shows the importance China attaches to bilateral ties.2021-01-1411 minStratNews GlobalFirst Time U.S Has Said It Will Protect Taipei, Warned China Of High Price: Taiwan MP Wang Ting-YuNew Delhi: The U.S. White House declassifying the Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific is "very important and significant since it was supposed to be classified for 30 years, says Taiwan Member of Parliament Wang Ting-yu. "It reveals a layered strategy clearly" and "warns China if it dares to do something stupid(forcibly unify Taiwan), the price will be too high and they can't afford it," the co-chair of Taiwan's Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee says, adding, "This is the first time, the United States has announced so directly and clearly that they will protect Taiwan." On the...2021-01-1316 minStratNews Global'India Needs A New Policy Paradigm For Nepal'NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of political turmoil in Nepal, a former Indian ambassador to Kathmandu has offered a grim prognosis of India's eastern neighbor. Ranjit Rae, in an exclusive conversation with StratNews Global's Parul Chandra, noted that Prime Minister Oli had dissolved Parliament simply because he had lost support within his own party and needed to save his prime ministership. Although the dissolution has been challenged in Nepal's Supreme Court, the former diplomat questioned Oli's conduct while noting that the Nepalese Constitution has stringent norms in place before such a step can be t...2021-01-1319 minStratNews GlobalTight Window To Impeach Trump, FBI Warns Of More Coordinated Violence: Academic Ayesha RayNEW DELHI: Majority Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing through what is seen as a largely unworkable ultimatum to Vice President Mike Pence, demanding he invoke the 25th amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. This is a curtain-raiser to an expected vote to impeach the President for the second time in just over a year. "If a majority or at least a fair number of Republicans, who are still not on board and are on Trump's team, do not agree to the Democrats resolution for impeachment, then it's very likely that removal or...2021-01-1214 minStratNews Global‘Myth That China Thinks Long Term, It’s Quite The Opposite’2020 began with China being the focus of international scrutiny and condemnation for the pandemic. By the end of the year, it claimed to have managed well enough for its economy to grow. On its international standing, China lost a lot of ground, says Jorge Guajardo, who has served six years in Beijing as Mexico’s Ambassador. China is seen for what it is—a country that doesn’t respect truth, a country that doesn’t respect international agreements and it doesn’t have a long history of putting common good ahead of its own, Guajardo, who’s now a senior direc...2021-01-0611 minStratNews Global‘Covid Vaccination In India A Challenge, Need Vaccines With Low Cold Chain Requirements’After the detection of a highly infectious strain of the Coronavirus in the UK, many countries have suspended flight services to and from Britain. This strain is said to be 50 to 70 per cent more infectious than the earlier ones and there have been 17 structural changes to the virus, which could infect children who were generally not affected till now, says Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India. It won’t affect the efficacy of vaccines as those being produced now largely target the spike protein of the virus; so as long as the virus has spike pr...2020-12-2411 minStratNews Global‘Greater Trade Opportunity Post-Brexit; Indian Businesses Need To Be Dexterous’The visit of British foreign secretary Dominic Raab to India should be seen as a preparatory one in the run-up to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s India trip in January next year, says Ruchi Ghanashyam, former Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom. Johnson will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade next year; the last British PM who was extended the honour was John Major in 1993. As India and the UK seek to broaden bilateral ties and collaboration post-Brexit, the trade would be a key area, High Commissioner Ghanashyam told StratNews Global. Once Brexit happens, th...2020-12-1717 minStratNews Global‘Chinese Vaccines For Global Good Isn’t Charity But Commercial In Nature’Chinese President Xi Jinping may say his country is distributing Coronavirus vaccines for ‘global good’ but that’s part of an image repair exercise. Just like the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s vaccine diplomacy is not altruism but driven by strong commercial interests, says Jacob Mardell, an analyst at the Mercator Institute of China Studies in Berlin. The attempt to present itself as a charitable actor might be disrupted by commercial interests, he told StratNews Global. “It’s actually funny how Xi Jinping added to the global good rhetoric by acknowledging that the vaccine had a price tag attached.” L...2020-12-1008 minStratNews Global'Russia, China Encouraging Iran Not To Blink First In Fight Against U.S.'He’s said it before and now U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has reiterated that a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is the best way to stave off a nuclear race in West Asia. Biden wants to go back to something that looks like a diplomatic resolution, says Alex Vatanka, Director of Iran Program at Middle East Institute. He (Biden) knows it’s better to not ask too much from Iran in the beginning but to focus on the nuclear issue first and, once trust is developed, expand the scope of the discussions, Vatanka told StratNews Global....2020-12-0315 minStratNews GlobalIndia Shouldn’t Be Shy About Its Relations With Tibet: Claude ArpiFathom this: the U.S. appoints a special coordinator for Tibet last month, a post that lay vacant for long. It invites Sikyong Lobsang Sangay to the State department first and then to the White House annexe. All this towards the fag end of the Trump administration. What does it signify? As he leaves the White House, Donald Trump wants to leave his name on a policy that he has not implemented during the four years he was president, says author, historian and noted Tibetologist Claude Arpi. Last week, a U.S. State Department report mentioned Tibet as being...2020-11-2515 minStratNews Global‘U.S. Needs New Plan For Broader Engagement With Region, Not Just Afghanistan’With not much headway in intra-Afghan talks and a new administration due to take charge in Washington, D.C., will there be a change in the U.S. approach? In the short-term, there is likely to be a continuum, says Shuja Nawaz, Distinguished Fellow at Atlantic Council. “The medium and long term will be determined by the ability of the United States to put together a new plan with its coalition partners on future engagement with Afghanistan and the region. And also on the success of any move within the U.S. to have a broader regional engagement so th...2020-11-1809 minStratNews Global'Despite Malaysian Govt’s Slender Majority, ‘Expect Budget To Be Passed’On Friday, the Malaysian government will table the annual budget with an overarching focus on rebuilding lives, livelihoods and the economy that have taken a pounding due to the pandemic. The government has a wafer-thin majority in Parliament and there has been a recent unsuccessful attempt to unseat Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. 25 MPs have given no-confidence motions against the administration as well. “Yassin is in a delicate position but I think we can expect the budget to be passed,” Dr Francis Hutchinson, Coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. These motions do pose a risk...2020-11-0516 minStratNews Global‘Trump’s India Approach Transactional, Biden Will Be Consistent’A week to go before U.S. votes in the presidential elections and polls show Joe Biden in the lead. Indian Americans make up about 1 per cent of the electorate but could play a key role in some swing states where they have a sizeable presence. What are the key issues on their minds? Healthcare, economy and racism, Prof. Sumit Ganguly of Indiana University, Bloomington, told StratNews Global, quoting a recent survey. Venktesh Shukla, Managing Director, Monta Vista Capital & Former Chair of TiE Global and TiE Silicon Valley, who joined in the conversation from California, was of the view...2020-10-2814 minStratNews Global'ASEAN: Where China, Japan Mean Business'If China's foreign minister visited five of the 10 ASEAN countries earlier this month, Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, chose two countries in the same region—Vietnam and Indonesia—this week for his first official trip abroad. What explains the rush?In this exclusive podcast Dr Prabir De, professor of the ASEAN Centre at the RIS think tank, tells StratNews Global that like China, Japan has a lot of business interests in southeast Asia, necessitating a counter-visit. Several ASEAN countries contribute goods and services to China but with Covid-19 disrupting supply chains, both parties have taken a hit. C...2020-10-2123 minStratNews Global'Zhenhua Data Leaks A Wake-Up Call For India: Cyber Security Expert Pavan Duggal'Among the targets of the global surveillance mounted by the Chinese firm Zhenhua Data are over 10,000 Indians, ranging from toppoliticians, business leaders, security mandarins etc. It’s a wake-up call for a country like India that doesn’t have a dedicated cyber security law, says Dr Pavan Duggal, Chairman of the International Commission on Cyber Security Law.What Zhenhua has done is a sophisticated form of data espionage, he told StratNews Global, adding that the ‘leaky digital ecosystem' inIndia has been infiltrated by Chinese apps.Indians tend to ‘vomit’ a lot of information about thei...2020-09-1813 minStratNews Global'Indian defence companies with design and manufacturing capability need encouragement'Indian defence companies are upbeat on Ministry of Defence's recent announcement listing out a number of defence weapons and platforms that would be barred from being imported from abroad. Many of them see this as a final step in the incremental defence reforms that have been undertaken by the Modi government. Speaking to StartNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale, two leading stalwarts of Indian defence industry, JD Patil of L&T and Ashok Atluri of Zen Technologies, however cautioned against excessive euphoria and pointed out that the the intent needs to be translated into action, meaning the local companies should ge...2020-08-1919 minStratNews Global'Jimmy Lai’s Arrest ‘Part Harassment, Part Fishing Expedition’, Says Aide'Monday morning blues in Hong Kong were shattered as news came it that media baron Jimmy Lai had been arrested, the first crackdown on the Press since the draconian National Security Law was imposed on June 30. The police arrived at the home of Lai, a vocal critic of Beijing's aggressive policies, in the morning, searched it for a couple of hours and led him away, handcuffed, senior media executive of Daily Apple, Mark Simon, told StratNews Global. Lai, a votary of democracy and human rights, was next taken to Daily Apple’s office. The office was searched from “top to b...2020-08-1116 min
StratNews Global'Rajapaksas' Thumping Electoral Victory Indicates Desire for Strong Leadership'Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he’s “happy and satisfied” with the results of the parliamentary elections in which people have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Rajapaksas-led (elder brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is now Prime Minister) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) party. The Sri Lankan president expressed these sentiments during a brief conversation with StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin Gokhale after the results came out with the SLPP winning 145 seats in the 225-member Parliament. In this podcast with Deputy Editor Parul Chandra, Gokhale, who’s been a long-time Sri Lanka watcher, says though the party fell short of...2020-08-0819 min