Carnegie Endowment Events

During Prime Minister Modi’s first 100 days in office, the words muscular, nimble, imperious and obdurate have all been used by commentators to describe his foreign policy. Prime Minister Modi’s special emphasis on India’s neighborhood, whole-hearted embrace of Japan, and successful performance at the BRICS summit are beginning to recast some of the old assumptions and positions that have defined India’s recent engagement with the world. While the prime minister has been able to instill a certain energy and purpose in Delhi, some key domestic imperatives and his own personal preferences are beginning to define India’s global play.

Armenia has not been immune to the recent turmoil affecting the post-Soviet space. In September 2013, in a move that caught many by surprise, President Serzh Sargsyan committed his country to joining the Russia-led Eurasian Union project. Last April, the country appointed a new prime minister, Hovik Abrahamian, and new government. And this summer saw the worst flare-up on the Line of Contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces since 1994.

Today’s Middle East is grappling with failed states, civil wars, brazen autocracies, and terror groups such as ISIS. Is this the region’s new normal, and is there a viable U.S. strategy to reverse these trends?

China’s Navy is embarking on “new historic missions” that reflect China’s interest in expanding its operational reach and global influence. From cooperative piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, to China’s first participation in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercise, the U.S. and Chinese Navies are expanding the boundaries of their burgeoning relationship.

India recently witnessed watershed election results, with the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power with a massive majority. Expectations are high for the policy initiatives emerging from New Delhi. India’s recently announced Union Budget provides insight into the short to medium term priorities of the government, especially with respect to the challenge of economic growth.

In autumn 2001, U.S. and NATO troops were deployed to Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban rulers. Yet, despite a more than decade-long attempt to eradicate them, the Taliban has endured—regrouping and reestablishing themselves as a significant insurgent movement. Hassan Abbas, author of The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier, examined how the Taliban not only survived but adapted to regain power and political advantage. Carnegie’s Frederic Grare moderated.

Ambassador Pascual shared his perspectives on some of the key energy issues during his tenure at the Bureau of Energy Resources at the State Department, as well as ongoing energy challenges.

The Rt Hon Hugo Swire, MP, minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, addresses the UK’s Asia-Pacific policy and explains both the UK’s current involvement and future aspirations in the region.

Ambassador Tariq Fatemi, special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, discussed Pakistan’s vision for regional economic integration and enduring peace and prosperity. Carnegie’s Frederic Grare moderated.

The recent capture of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul by the jihadi extremist group ISIS has plunged the country into chaos.

As Narendra Modi’s government takes shape in New Delhi, questions abound about the future of the India-Pakistan relationship. Despite Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s promise to normalize ties with India, relations between the two rivals have changed little in the year since he took office. Will Modi’s election lead to a new start between India and Pakistan, or could it instead mark the beginning of a new phase of deterioration? How will domestic politics in Pakistan influence its India policy? Pakistani Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani will discuss the prospects for peace between the two countries.

In managing violent rebellions, democracies must often choose between coercion and accommodation. As the world’s largest democracy, India is no stranger to this trade-off: it has struggled over the past several decades to address several domestic insurgencies. A new book by Bidisha Biswas addresses India’s approach to internal conflicts. Biswas will look at Punjab, Kashmir, and the Naxalite–Maoist conflict and explore the challenges and choices facing multiethnic democracies. Joshua T. White of the Stimson Center served as discussant, and Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav moderated.

India has fallen far and fast from the runaway growth rates it enjoyed in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The recent election results have demonstrated a nationwide desire to reverse this trend.

On July 9 Indonesians will go to the polls to elect their next president for a five-year term, after a decade of steady—albeit recently slowing—growth.

The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos and Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times discuss Osnos' new book, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, in which he addresses the internal social and political dynamics of China.

In recent years, India has gained unprecedented access to high-quality, sensitive military equipment from the West. But rather than focus on qualitative advances to its arsenal utilizing these technologies, Delhi continues to focus on quantitative improvements to its conventional forces.

Maha Yahya discusses changing concepts of citizenship in the Arab world following the uprisings of 2011.

Gilles Kepel, Will McCants, Frederic Wehrey, and Sarah Chayes discuss the successes and failures of the Arab revolutions, three years on.

Ellen Lust and Lina Khatib discuss their new book, Taking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab Activism, with Ahmed Benchemsi and Marwan Muasher.

This conference brought together leading scholars and practitioners from the United States, Europe, and the Arab world to examine the complex dynamics underway within al-Qaeda.