South and Central Asia
Russia-Armenia Ties Complicate Turkish Regional Plans
In ending Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian-brokered accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2020 removes the Azerbaijani condition for the creation of a regional stability pact in the South Caucasus first proposed in 1999. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, hopes that Armenia will now take the steps needed to establish such a security system. However, the political crisis in Armenia since the November ceasefire calls into question whether Yerevan will have the willingness to commit to this regional initiative.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: How Delhi is losing the Indian-Chinese soft power game in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has increasingly become a focus of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the last decade. The Hambantota port development project is a notable example, an ambitious but costly endeavour by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which was in the end handed over by the government to a Chinese enterprise on a 99-year lease in 2017 to reduce its spiralling debt burden.
NATO’s Afghanistan Withdrawal: Regional interests and civil war fears
A deal has been recently struck in US-Taliban peace talks and progress towards long term peace seems increasingly possible. However, with a likely NATO withdrawal and recent election results, there continues to be a substantial risk to the country’s security and the likelihood of descent into civil strife.
Central Asia: The Land of CyberCrime?
The development of telecommunications in Central Asia has increased regional online presence. However, it has also made it vulnerable to cybercrime attacks.
Kazakhstan: A new dawn?
Kazakhstan’s leader Nazarbayev resigned from the Presidency after 3 decades to become Chairman of the Security Council and leader of the ruling party.
Between a Bear and a Dragon: New challenges for Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev is stepping down. This exposes the new leader to challenges of balancing Kazakh interests between China & Russia
Sino-Russian alignment in reality: The case of Central Asia
This article presents an assessment of what the Sino-Russian relationship mean for Central Asia and the United States, in the short and long term.
The India-Taiwan Treaty: India’s gateway to a knowledge economy
India and Taiwan’s bilateral investment treaty presents a great insensitive for India to develop its human capital and transition into a knowledge economy.
Myanmar is set to embrace Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative
After years of interrupted progression with Chinese-backed projects the Myanmar government has agreed to speed up progress. This signals that relations between China and Myanmar are good and that Myanmar is seeking for the foreign investments it needs to improve its economy.
Sri Lanka: economic and political fragility
The Sri Lankan democracy has recently been burdened by a presidential coup. President Sirisena has overstepped his constitutional limits to sack the sitting Prime Minister and unilaterally appoint a new one. Instead of seeking parliament’s approval, he dissolved the House and announced snap elections for January 2019.
