Read Teresita Schaffer’s interview in Dawn, September 9, 2011, on Pakistan’s “three marriages and two divorces” with the United States, the challenge of the two countries’ strategic gap, the impact when one country withholds information from the other, and some of Pakistan’s negotiating successes with the United States.
India Next Door, China Over the Horizon
Strategic Asia 2011-2012 examines the impact of the rise of India and China on the rest of Asia, and on global powers in ten chapters, each by a recognized expert. This is the latest volume in the annual Strategic Asia series put out by the National Bureau of Asian Research.
For Pakistan, the rise of India is a strategic nightmare, while the rise of China
is an opportunity to curb India’s advancement and reduce dependence on
the United States. Afghanistan sees its ties with India and China, as well
as with the U.S., as vehicles for blunting interference by its immediate
neighbors, especially Pakistan.
Read summary of Teresita Schaffer’s chapter on how the rise of India and China looks from the rest of South Asia.
U.S. Election Season: How does India Fit In?
Jobs and reviving the economy will shape the 2012 U.S. election and future U.S.-India relations. During the long election season, attention will focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and how to deal with a rising China. India does not attract the same controversy, but the unresolved economic issues on the U.S.-India agenda will be in the spotlight.
See our op-ed in The Hindu (Chennai), August 23, 2011.
Indian Ocean Rivals Better Served with Cooperation
The Indian Ocean is the lifeline of the UAE – and of many other countries around the region and the globe. As old rivalries become more prominent in these waters, it is time to lay the groundwork for real collaboration on the issues that pose the greatest threat to Indian Ocean security. Stronger and broader anti-piracy cooperation would be a good place to start.
See op-ed published in The National, UAE, August 23, 2011.
Pakistan’s Gloomy Anniversary
August 17, 2011: In South Asia, as in many other parts of the world, national independence days are a time for editors and other commentators to reflect on their country’s state of affairs, spell out what’s going well and what’s going badly, and offer some — hopefully original –ideas about what can be done to set things right. We’ve made it a practice to check out these commentaries. We’ve found that they can often help us and other outsiders get a better idea of the national mood in these countries, or at least of their elites. With this goal in mind we went through the editorials and other commentaries in Pakistan’s English-language press that “celebrated” the 64th anniversary of the country’s independence on August 14.