Since first assuming office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has aimed to increase the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP. In 2014, the government launched the Make-in-India campaign, which pushed for more manufacturing and invited foreign direct investment (FDI), even in sensitive sectors like defence and railways. Chinese companies like Oppo and ZTE were among those who sought […]

Ethnic conflicts have become a global problem with serious regional cross-border implications. Scholarly concern with ethnic groups and conflict have become increasingly salient since the second half of the twentieth century. An estimate shows that one-third of all countries experienced civil conflict and ethnic unrest. The term ‘ethnicity’ or ‘ethnic’ finds origin in the Greek term, ethnos meaning nation and […]

Sustaining the lives of over 65 million people, the Mekong River is a crucial lifeline for the six co-riparian Southeast Asian countries—China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Given its rich biodiversity and fertile landscape, the Mekong impacts the food security and economic opportunities for tens of millions of people, in sectors such as agriculture, trade, connectivity, tourism and […]

Pakistan’s security forces conducted two successful intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 9 and 10, 2024, resulting in the elimination of four Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists. These consecutive operations illustrate the country’s continuous efforts to eliminate terrorist networks that constitute a constant danger to peace and security. As security forces keep pressure on militant groups, the most recent […]

First some fantastic news this morning: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson have won the Nobel memorial prize in economic science for their work on institutions. I hope to write more about those ideas when I have a chance, but for more that I’ve written already (lots more!) on the theory of power in Acemoglu and Johnson’s most recent […]

On the night of August 25-26, 2024, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a secessionist group fighting for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan, launched Operation Herof (“Black Storm”), a series of coordinated terror attacks and suicide bombings on a Pakistani army camp, police stations, and other targets, killing dozens of Pakistani soldiers and police officers.[1] BLA executed the Operation Herof […]

In a Dari-language booklet, the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) accuses the Saudi government of promoting indecency in the “land of revelation,” especially by organizing concerts and criticizes Islamic religious scholars for doing what the royal government tells them to do. A PDF of the 32-page booklet, titled “The Height Of Indecency In The Land Of Revelation,” was released on […]

Summary Introduction India is home to some two hundred million Muslims, one of the world’s largest Muslim populations but a minority in the predominantly Hindu country. Since India’s independence, Muslims have often faced discrimination, prejudice, and violence, despite constitutional protections. Experts say anti-Muslim sentiments have heightened under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party […]

Although China’s ambition to gain control of Taiwan is clear, doing so through force would prove enormously difficult and costly. Although China continues to state a preference for unifying with Taiwan through peaceful methods, it has never renounced using force. Indeed, for the past two decades its military modernization has focused on developing capabilities that would enable it to forcefully […]

Since 1948, Israel has made a habit of targeting Palestinian refugee camps, striking the people it’s already displaced. During the thick of summer, around 8 a.m. one day in late July 1971, bulldozers crept into the Gaza Strip’s Jabalia refugee camp. The Israeli military had already warned several families of their impending evictions, and a large show of Israeli forces […]