Today hardly any part of the world is untouched by the interplay of oil and international politics. Consumers as well as producers are concerned about the impact of national and international events that increase or restrict the supply of energy. Given that the West Asian region holds the world's largest residual oil and gas resources, the article seeks to analyse the importance of West Asia in the context of the changing geopolitical situation and its impact on the current oil market. The article also focuses on the issue of the petrodollar and looks at its impact on the oil market.

• M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi
• March 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Continuing conflict, competition and rivalry have been a regular phenomenon in the Gulf region over the past few decades. Among other reasons, the troubled relationship between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Iran has been one of the major factors responsible for the present state of affairs in the region. The relationship has been marked by sectarian and ideological differences, clash of interests over the presence of the US in the region, concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme and territorial disputes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

• Prasanta Kumar Pradhan
• March 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Since the overthrow of its last ruler Siad Barre in 1990, Somalia's conditions have worsened and, barring a few islands of peace, are degenerating rapidly; its waves of insecurity surge beyond its shores. Piracy off Somalia is a consequence of its present volatile insecurity on shore, and 20 years of conflict resolution efforts have come to naught. As piracy increases and anti-piracy operations intensify, efforts at finding lasting peace on shore have run aground.

• Frank Charles van Rooyen
• March 2011
• Strategic Analysis

As high-profile incidents of piracy become more common off Somalia, strategists have taken to urging the US government to send expeditionary forces ashore. The article uses history and Clausewitzian theory to estimate the nature of the threat and the likely efficacy of a land campaign. Even successful operations would entail costs exceeding the value of the political stakes. For this reason alone, going ashore is inadvisable.

• James R. Holmes
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

Today, the situation in Afghanistan is mired with the geopolitics of regional and extra-regional players. Bringing stability to the country is a major challenge for the international community. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has the potential to play an important role, provided it is able to make some adjustments in its policy. Given its strengths and weaknesses, it is likely to focus more on economic, trade and security related issues within the Eurasian region rather than in Afghanistan.

• Meena Singh Roy
• July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

• Max Singer
• July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

India's relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been primarily based on mutual trade and business. GCC countries are the main source of energy for India and a market for Indian commodities. India's five-million-strong workforce forms a natural linkage between India and the GCC. But despite such strong trade linkages, which are still growing, political and strategic relations between India and the GCC have been found lacking. Recent years have witnessed signing of defence and security agreements between India and some of the GCC countries.

• Prasanta Kumar Pradhan
• May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

AFRICOM is a new institution representing the new manner of US engagement. This is different from the EU model of engagement and comes at a time when India and China are seen as important partners of Africa. This paper is written to provide an insight into AFRICOM from an Indian perspective of Africa. This differs from the EU view and also from Africa's own response. US policy towards Africa consists of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) + AFRICOM; whereas AGOA is better understood, AFRICOM is not. This paper proposes to fill some of the gaps in its understanding.

• Gurjit Singh
• May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

Indian presence in the Gulf region is civilizational and has developed into a vibrant relationship over the years. With the emergence of India as a large economic power and with the Gulf region simultaneously witnessing spectacular economic growth, economic trends are reinforcing mutual interdependence. While India's economic presence in the region has transformed from barter exchanges between merchants and Indian human capital, India's political presence has remained more or less subdued.

• Samir Pradhan
• January 2010
• Strategic Analysis

• Ruchita Beri
• January 2009
• Strategic Analysis

The vaccine inequity is not only morally indefensible but clinically counter-productive. Allowing most of the world’s population to go unvaccinated will only spawn new virus mutations. Preventing this humanitarian catastrophe requires removing barriers – such as TRIPS – to vaccine production and its equitable distribution.

• Rajeesh Kumar
• July 12, 2021
• Issue Brief

India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative will help African countries in the fight against the COVID pandemic and foster stronger ties based on the principle of South-South cooperation.

• Ruchita Beri
• March 11, 2021
• IDSA Comments

COVID-19 vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations will prolong the pandemic, and result in greater economic and social damage.

• Rajeesh Kumar
• January 04, 2021
• Issue Brief

India and Mexico can jointly push for an effective response to international terrorism, reforming the multilateral system, and the adoption of a comprehensive approach to promoting international peace and security.

• Ruchita Beri
• August 20, 2020
• IDSA Comments

South Africa has utilised the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to consolidate its regional leadership and augment connections with major external partners like India.

• Ruchita Beri
• May 26, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities of the international system, particularly those of multilateral institutions. When the much spoken borderless threat became a reality, the multilateral institutions were found not only unprepared but acting in a self-destructive mode.

• Rajeesh Kumar
• May 21, 2020
• IDSA Comments

It is the need of the hour that India and the African countries collaborate to control the outbreak of the pandemic and to mitigate its long-term economic impact.

• Ruchita Beri
• April 29, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave is a step towards engaging the African countries on peace and security. It is hoped that the conclave leads to a candid discussion on common security challenges and examines the ways and means to further enhance cooperation between India and the African countries.

• Ruchita Beri
• February 06, 2020
• IDSA Comments

COP25 was expected to give prominence to science, streamline ambitious targets and raise trust among parties. Even after a marathon two-week talks, issues such as creating an international carbon market and climate financing were pushed to the next year.

• Rajeesh Kumar
• January 15, 2020
• IDSA Comments

Human resource development (HRD) and capacity building are frequently claimed to be at the heart of India's development cooperation. This paper is one of the first to look inside these claims and to review critically the many different facets of India's capacity building. The focus is India's engagement with Africa, and the time-frame is from 1947 till the present. Many of the key HRD elements in India's cooperation are covered: from support to thousands of African students and professionals to learn from Indian institutions to the ambitious HRD pledges of the three India-Africa Forum Summits. India's soft power in Africa is examined along with its support to institutional and digital development.

• Kenneth King
• IDSA Occasional Papers