Shall We Bank on BRICS, A Coalition of Unequals?

I wrote a short opinion piece on the politics around the BRICS Bank for the Economic Times.  I argued that China is likely to dominate the BRICS because of the disparity in wealth between China and the other BRICS.

Steve Earle and Power Transitions

I am not much of a music fan but if you have to drive 40 kilometers everyday through South Delhi traffic, and you don't want to give in to the dark passenger beside you who wants you to run over the next moron who insists on cutting you off, you definitely need something divert your attention.

I came across this song by Steve Earle recently, via The Shield.  I liked it partly because some of the lyrics reminded me of the rise and fall of great powers.  But Earle was writing this I think more as a standard American liberal critic of America.  Any way, I enjoyed it.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s Essay on Institutions

I find Pratap Bhanu Mehta one of India’s most readable scholar and commentator.  His latest essay in the Indian Express is a particularly good one.  He points to the manner in which institutions have been eroded by India’s political class.  A more important point he makes is that the the "vast majority of our politicians simply do not understand the meaning of one word: institutions." 

The Afghan End Game

The Chuck Hagel visits illustrates the state of the end game in Afghanistan.  My take is somewhat pessimistic, but The Economic Times published it yesterday.  A copy is available after the jump-break.  And here's the link to the essay . . .

On Iran's Nukes

I made a presentation about Iran's nuclear weapons program and its likely consequences at IDSA's annual Asian Security Conference. IDSA has now posted a video of my presentation.

Attempting a Blog . . . . Again

Here I go with my second attempt at creating a blog.  I maintained one a few years ago, but did not update that for several years and finally decided it would be better to start a new one rather than attempt to restart the old one.  I intend to try and keep this updated at least once a week.  I also intend to do something slightly different this time.  With my previous blog, I mostly posted essays that I published elsewhere, or links to my publications.  This time, I plan to also write specifically for my blog, both my responses to others as well as to developments that motivate me to write.  I do welcome comments, but I will moderate them.

So here goes . . .