Anurag Bisen replies: Global warming impacting geo-politics is very much evident in the radically transformed Arctic region, which is warming four times faster than other parts of Earth. Arctic’s ice meltdown and its geographical location is likely to transform global maritime commerce and also opens up possibilities of extraction of huge potential oil and gas and other mineral resources, and expanded fishing and tourism in the Arctic.
‘Security’ and ‘status’ complexities are critical impediments for any state’s foreign policy; and India is no different. This article argues that as the China threat looms large, New Delhi will not be in complete repudiation of an ‘Asian NATO’ (or “Indo-Pacific NATO”), despite strategically refraining from being party to a definitive military alliance and an age-old non-alignment principle. However, India’s support will be contingent on the future trajectory of its ties with Beijing.
Kremlin’s increasingly assertive stance on the troop build-up along the Russia–Ukraine border can be viewed as not just prompted by Ukraine’s potential NATO membership but also as Russia underscoring its place as a stakeholder in shaping European security architecture.
The Joint Communique issued by the recent NATO summit, held on July 8-9 in Warsaw, appears to have sown the seeds of a renewed confrontation with Russia.
Regardless of the spin and gloss that Pakistan puts on the decision to re-open NATO supply lines to Afghanistan, it was in large measure the result of sustained US economic, political and diplomatic pressure.
Where does Pakistan figure in ‘Afghan good enough’ if Pakistan’s centrality in the Western approach is taken into account? Not working towards a ‘Pakistan good enough’ would simply mean that ‘Afghan good enough’ is not ‘good enough’.
Anit Mukherjee replies: The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the end of the bipolar rivalry between the Warsaw Pact and NATO, which had characterized world politics since the end of WWII. Besides the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, it resulted in freedom for many Eastern European countries from their communist parties and led to a wave of democratization there. Moreover it created a number of new countries in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia . It more or less ended the experiment with communism that began with the Bolshevik revolution. Finally, it led to changes in almost all regional settings in the world. For instance, the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan led to global inattention that ultimately led to the Taliban regime. This democratic triumph also led to global economic growth at unprecedented levels. Finally it also created instability, for instance in the Balkans and in parts of Asia, e.g. Nagorno-Karabakh.
European Sky Shield Initiative: Reinforcing Europe’s Air Defences
The European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) seeks to develop a common air and missile defence system to defend NATO and European airspace.