Showing 1 - 10 of 16
How Iran is able to beat the US in its war
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 06/04/2026
» In a rambling address to the American people on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump claimed that the US war against Iran has been a success, vowing to "finish the job … very fast". It was a statement in obvious conflict with the facts. In reality, Iran has upended the model on which US interventionism has long relied.
Trump shows China how to handle Taiwan
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 17/03/2026
» Since returning to office last year, US President Donald Trump has ordered military strikes from the Caribbean and eastern Pacific to Africa and the Middle East, targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats and suspected terrorist groups. He has attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its leader. And he has joined Israel in a large-scale assault on Iran. Meanwhile, he is tightening a noose around Cuba, in the hope that the resulting humanitarian crisis will open the way for a "friendly takeover" of the island by the United States.
Appeasing China won't help counter Trump
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 02/09/2025
» In 2020, China's stealth encroachments into India's Himalayan borderlands triggered deadly clashes and a prolonged military standoff that nearly erupted into war. Five years on, the border crisis remains largely unresolved, yet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is headed to China in an apparent effort to ease friction -- just when India is facing punishing tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
US strikes on Iran nuke plants risk backfiring
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 26/06/2025
» Israel and the United States have dealt punishing blows to Iran's nuclear infrastructure. "Operation Rising Lion" and "Operation Midnight Hammer" have been portrayed as precision strikes that will stop the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in its tracks. But whatever the bombings might have achieved tactically, they risk forfeiting strategically, as Iran is now more convinced than ever that nuclear weapons are the only way to deter future aggression and ensure the regime's survival.
Testing the Trump-Modi bromance
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 15/02/2025
» Last time Donald Trump was president, ties between the United States and India flourished. But the bilateral relationship began to fray during Joe Biden's presidency, owing not least to divisions over the Ukraine war. Will Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest meeting with Mr Trump at the White House mark the first step toward restoring this critical relationship?
The deepening political turmoil in South Asia
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 15/08/2024
» Violent student-led, Islamist-backed protests in Bangladesh have toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, and mob attacks targeting those viewed as supporters of her secular Awami League party -- in particular, the country's dwindling Hindu minority -- are proliferating. At a time when neighbouring Myanmar is engulfed in violence and the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt remains fertile ground for cross-border terrorism, political upheaval in Bangladesh, two years after the overthrow of Sri Lanka's government, is the last thing India, the regional power, needs.
The conflicts of the new world order
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 14/11/2023
» The crises, conflicts and wars that are currently raging highlight just how profoundly the geopolitical landscape has changed in recent years, as great-power rivalries have again become central to international relations. With the wars in Gaza and Ukraine exacerbating global divisions, an even more profound geopolitical reconfiguration -- including a shift to a new world order -- may well be in the works.
America's Myanmar policy is simply all wrong
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 15/07/2023
» A recent joint statement by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Myanmar" and called for a constructive dialogue to aid the country's transition toward an inclusive federal democratic system. Unfortunately, the US-led sanctions policy has undercut this goal and made a bad situation worse.
Europe's Russia sanctions are a shot in the foot
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 19/12/2022
» It seems obvious that sanctions -- an increasingly important tool of Western foreign policy -- should inflict significant pain on the target without exacting unsustainably high costs from the country imposing them. But the European Union's sanctions on Russia -- intended to punish the country for its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine -- do not meet this condition.
No justification for engaging with Taliban
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 19/08/2022
» In the year since the United States' disgraceful abandonment of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the country has gone down precisely the path any logical observer would have predicted: a medieval, jihadist, terrorist-sheltering emirate has been established. The US will incur costs for betraying its Afghan allies for a long time to come. But nobody will pay a higher price than Afghans.