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The Great Game continues: India’s role in a new Afghanistan

The Great Game continues: India’s role in a new Afghanistan Recent months have seen a dramatic turnaround in Afghanistan—the two decades-long Afghan war, embroiling the world’s sole superpower, has now come to an abrupt end. With the final withdrawal and tacit surrender of American forces in the war, the Islamic Republic collapsed, giving way to the takeover by the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate. Needless to say, governments, along with NGOs and intergovernmental organisations across the world are now scrambling to figure out what the situation on the ground is and what is to be done. As the situation becomes clearer with each passing day, it is worth observing the stance which the Indian government will take in the face of the new reality. Understandably, there is much confusion and conflict amongst discussion circles as to what India’s reaction to the new Taliban regime should be, essentially boiling down to the fundamental question: to engage or not to engage? In this article, I intend...
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Wartime Economics in the Pandemic

  Wartime Economics in the Pandemic  Introduction: What is a War Economy? The term War Economy refers to the reorganisation of a country’s production and distribution capacities in times of conflict [1] . In essence, while a war economy tries to produce goods for supporting the war effort, it also tries to sustain and strengthen the national economy as a whole. To this end, governments utilise their revenues and re-allocate resources towards the requisite sectors. For example, in World War II, the US government reallocated resources towards the production of defence goods, while also taking measures to ensure workers’ welfare, higher taxation of corporate bodies etc, all of which directly or indirectly supported its transition to the war economy. Of course, WWII-era USA may not be the perfect example of a war economy, given that normal life went on for most of its citizens, and that the actual warzones were separated from the mainland by the entire Atlantic and Pacific Ocean...
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Economics of the Hunger Games

  The Economics of the Hunger Games The Hunger Games portrays a North American dystopia, Panem : a totalitarian state, divided into 12 administrative ‘Districts’, governed by the ‘Capitol’, the country’s power-centre. This is an exploitative country, with most citizens living in oppression and poverty. In this article, I aim to provide a detailed understanding of the economic functioning of this dystopia, by examining its features and the implications of these. Note: The Hunger Games are an annual practice in Panem, wherein two ‘tributes’ (a boy and a girl of the ages 12-18) are selected (via lottery or voluntary participation) from each District, to engage in a televised fight to the death in an arena. Features Panem follows a Command Economy . This is an economic system where the Government decides what goods are to be produced, how much to be produced, and the price at which these are sold. (Chappelow) Further, no free trade is allowed in Panem. This is complemented by...
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Patriotism in a Nationalist Paradigm

  Patriotism in a Nationalist Paradigm   It is no secret that Indian society, over the past half-decade, has become very overtly nationalist in its outlook, primarily because of the nature of the Indian polity today, and the narrative that it has so intricately woven. Since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, the regime has indisputably brought about a major paradigm shift in Indian politics and society, which has led to ramifications, both good and bad.  Foreign Policy The present government has established a much more assertive foreign policy, especially with regard to India’s two main problem areas in international relations: Pakistan and China. Where the UPA had failed miserably in portraying India as a significant force in the psyche of these two antagonists, the NDA has made sure to send a clear message to both, that aggression or humiliation in any form will not be tolerated by India. While UPA sat back and did nothing in the wake of the Pak...
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The Privatisation of War: PMC Wagner

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The Privatisation of War: PMC Wagner When talking of Privatisation of warfare, usually American groups come to mind, most prominently the Blackwater group. For those unaware about Blackwater (now called ‘Academi’), it is a(n) (in)famous Private Military Company (PMC), which is believed to operate in countries like Yemen and Iraq, at the behest of US and its regional allies. It gained notoriety in 2007, for the Nissour Square Massacre , where Blackwater personnel reportedly killed 14 Iraqi civilians and injured 20 others. However, this article addresses a relatively lesser-known private military group, Russia’s Wagner Group. Wagner PMC first rose to prominence in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, after a hotly disputed rebellion and referendum in favour of Russia by the local population. The controversial element of this event was the presence of the ‘Little Green Men’, i.e., masked soldiers, in green uniform with no identifying insignia, who a...
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Coronavirus and the Great Game

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Coronavirus and the Great Game Independence of India, 15/08/1947 US Capture of Japanese Island of Iwo Jima, 23/02/1945 Nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, 9/08/1945 Final Lowering of the Soviet Flag, 26/12/1991 nCoV-19 The above set of images all reference landmark moments in world history, with the Coronavirus being the latest one to inevitably go down in history, seeing the scope of the devastation it has caused. However, what is common among these images other than them being historical? Indian Independence —Signifies the loss of Britain’s most important colony, marking the beginning of the sunset of the British Empire. Taking of Iwo Jima —One of many landmark events revolving around the USA in World War II, which finally led to it becoming the global superpower we know today. Nuclear Bombing of Nagasaki —One of the two most devastating man-made disasters in history, causing the Japanese Empire to finally capitulate,...
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