Int’l Affairs

Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March the EU and the US have ratcheted up sanctions several times, tightening restrictions on major Russian state banks and corporations. They have blacklisted dozens of senior Russian officials, separatist commanders and Russian firms accused of undermining Ukrainian sovereignty. The EU sanctions announced on 12th September targeted Russia’s state finances, energy and arms sectors. …

While Washington has been preoccupied with a burning Middle East, Russia behaving badly and, to a lesser extent, the rise of China, US relations with India have slipped down the diplomatic priority list. In coming decades, however, enormous, unwieldy India will likely be the United States’ most important continental partner in Asia. Modi, a Hindu nationalist who successfully brought economic …

The instant piece is aimed at exploring the new frontier of the international law in the form of the Global Administrative Law (GAL) with a brief discussion on its concept, status and kinds. Later, a brief résumé of the use of the GAL in relation to global terrorism has been presented with analytical remarks. Introduction Charles Louis Montesquieu, in his …

Ideological Aspect & Possible Long-term Outcomes. There is no denying the fact that any innocent life lost is certainly a life too many, and coalition forces should undergo every effort possible to avoid civilian casualties. However, we should not forget that if anyone is guilty of murdering civilians, raping women and terrorizing children, it certainly would be ISIS, not the …

Only One Thing Will Make Israel Change Course. Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority finally accepted a cease-fire agreement after a 50-day Israeli assault on Gaza that left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead and vast landscapes of destruction behind. The agreement calls for an end to military action by Israel and Hamas as well as an easing of the Israeli …

Geopolitics, the study of the interaction between geography, international politics, and international relations, has seemingly passed its heyday and critiques are now coming from several fronts. Geography in this regard includes both features that are ‘fixed’, such as location, topography, strategic chokepoints, climate, and natural resources, as well as elements of human and political geography, such as a country’s size, …

US Secretary of State John Kerry recently visited New Delhi to attend the 5th India-US Strategic Dialogue. During his stay, he held discussions with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj which was followed by his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This represented the first high—level contacts between the US and India since Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014. Reports on …

The foundation of the BRICS Development Bank has highlighted the problems with the current system of global assistance and governance – particularly from the US. The most important thing is that it’s now a permanent sign that global governance is a mess. Global governance has not kept up with the pace of global economic change.” No sooner had the dust …

They can’t help themselves. Whatever the situation, the reaction of US policymakers is more war. Weak economy? War will get things going. Strong economy? Military spending will cool it off. Two wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) finally winding down? Time to ramp up secret arms sales to a pair of pipsqueak insurgencies (Libya and Syria). Other superpowers love militarism. But only …

Western sanctions against Russia appear to have a fairly narrow, tangible goal: to punish Moscow for supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. But to what end? Sanctions need to reinforce a wider strategy designed to change Moscow’s behaviour so that it starts respecting the sovereignty of all post-Soviet states. Ukraine is just the latest example in a long series of …