India's difficulties in negotiating an FTA with both the ASEAN and E.U. are a reminder of the importance of multilateralism.
Strategic autonomy is not secured by merely asserting one's independence: it is secured by creating mutually beneficial interdependencies.
Just as the policies and programmes for development have to adhere to the law of the land - respecting the basic principles underlying the Constitution - so, too, must the idea of Hindutva.
Battles, on the military and the economic front, are first lost in the minds of the strategists for want of ideas before they are lost on the battleground for want of armoury.
It is unfair to constantly allege that Manmohan Singh's only unfulfilled desire is to visit his birthplace in Pakistan and that his Pakistan policy is defined by this obsession.
China and Germany are important geo-economic powers that have been able to bolster their geo-political and even military power, thanks to the opportunity provided by their geo-economic rise.
The new era of bottom-up politics has had politically paradoxical consequences in China. While it has made the system of governance more participatory, it has made the central government less authoritarian and, therefore, more bureaucratic and cautious.
In the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, regionalism was seen as a building block of globalisation.
A trilateral initiative by the U.S., China, and India in the Gulf, aimed at facilitating a resolution of historic problems in the region, would benefit global growth and stability.
On many key global economic issues, Russia's loyalty is divided between the West and the South. As an energy exporter, it stands opposite energy importing China and India. As a commodity trader resisting the influx of cheap Chinese manufactures, its interests in the WTO clash with those of many of the developing economies.
Civil servants and government functionaries do not write memoirs because they hope to get more government jobs or assignments.
A common language doesn't soothe dry tongues and thirsty throats.
If the World Bank does not alter its shareholding structure to reflect the shifts in global distribution of income and economic power, its role may get marginalised as regional institutions fill the vacuum.
Policies that aim to promote the livelihood security of the people - promoting employment, improving the nutritional status of children and women, expanding educational opportunities, and providing affordable healthcare - would be the first charge on the budget of a developmental state.
As Asia's rising powers seek to sustain growth and ensure stability, energy security has moved to the forefront of Asian geopolitics.
Every university has its problems. The issues range from lack of amenities, plagiarism, poor quality research, sexual harassment, faculty moonlighting, and faulty and biased recruitment.
A politician normally flatters you in your face and criticises you behind your back.
While history has its limitations in shaping contemporaneous and forward-looking strategic choices, it does shape popular perceptions.
Indeed, China may never acquire the geo-political influence and reach that Great Britain enjoyed in the 19th century and the United States of America did in the 20th, even though it may have already surpassed the geo-economic clout the two major powers enjoyed in the heyday of their empires.
As fiscal constraints impinge on defence and diplomacy, governments find themselves increasingly homebound, even if diplomats happily travel to summits.
