China has been a part of the Afghan maze, but landlocked Afghanistan seemed to have factored either marginally or episodically in its geopolitical quests in the past decades. While the role of certain regional actors in Afghanistan has been far widely debated and analysed, China’s role, particularly the nature and scope of its bilateral interactions and engagements with various Afghan regimes in Kabul, from Zahir Shah to the Taliban, has remained comparatively understudied. This book is a modest effort in that direction.
The unravelling race for tech supremacy, as a microcosm of the macro trade war between US and China, can be depicted as Tech Race 2.0. In some ways, this is akin to the Space Race that unfolded between the US and the erstwhile USSR in the 1950s and 1960s, which eventually turned in favour of the US, given its fundamentals being firmly grounded in democracy, freedom of speech and robust innovation and business ecosystems. Since China shares some of the key elements that the Soviet Union had, it is likely that history can be repeated provided the US is fully aware of the challenges emanating from China and takes necessary steps by investing in the state-of-the-art technologies. The implications of the US losing the race could be far-reaching not only for the US, but also for the entire global order built on the liberal principles and values. The same is applicable for India since it shares a border with China and the border conflict continues to persist. Therefore, it is imperative to save the global community from the dangers of authoritarian leaders and countries winning the race.
