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Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)

February 2016

Reviewed by Jon Dorschner Why India is not a Great Power (Yet) by Bharat Karnad, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India, 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-945922-3, 552 pp., $59.95 (Hardcover). Bharat Karnad is a substantive Indian intellectual with a strong pedigree. He … Read more

Green Signals

January 2016

Reviewed by Jon P. Dorschner Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India by Jairam Ramesh, Oxford University Press (India), New Delhi, 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-945752-6, 604 pp., $32.85 (Hardcover). I am extremely concerned about the impact of environmental factors on … Read more

India Rapidly Becoming the World’s Largest Carbon Emitter

November 2015

by Jon P. Dorschner American press coverage of Indian issues has generally praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The principal emphasis has been on Modi’s repeated promises to turn India into an economic powerhouse … Read more

The ambition of China and its democratization issue

November 2015

by Zhang Xiaomao Historical events are always astonishingly similar. In the early Korean War, China ruled by the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) frequently publicly warned the U.S. not to go beyond the 38th  parallel north to invade North Korea or China … Read more

Where Will Narendra Modi Take India?

October 2015

by Jon P. Dorschner In its October 17 edition, the New York Times succinctly described current political developments in India.1 The article asked the pertinent question for American observers regarding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Is he a Twitter-savvy technocrat … Read more

The Saga of Raju and his “Dayalappals”

October 2015

by Jon Dorschner Raju Dayal was not an important man. In fact he was at the bottom of the office totem pole. He worked in a huge government office in New Delhi, India as a chaprassi. A chaprassi is an … Read more

The Myth of the Indian Middle Class

September 2015

by Jon P. Dorschner India is at an economic turning point. The resounding victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 parliamentary elections has largely been viewed by observers as a ringing endorsement of economic … Read more

Is China Cracking Up?

June 2015

by Paul Levine In March David Shambaugh published an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal under the headline, “The Coming Chinese Crackup.” “The endgame of communist rule in China has begun,” the article continued, “and Xi Jinping’s ruthless measures … Read more

Caution and Narendra Modi

June 2015

by Jon P. Dorschner The Modi wave has swept across India and is still ongoing. In the 2014 Parliamentary elections Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 282 seats, gaining an absolute majority in parliament, while the ruling United Progressive … Read more

The Accidental Prime Minister

April 2015

Review by Jon P. Dorschner The Accidental Prime Minister (The Making and Unmaking of Mohan Singh) by Sanjaya Baru, Viking Books: New York, 2014, ISBN 978-0-670086740, 287 pp., $28.88 (Hardcover), $12.72 (Kindle). This is my second book review covering the … Read more

Packing for India

March 2015

Review by Jon P. Dorschner Packing for India by David Mulford, Potomac Books: Dulles, Virginia, 2014, ISBN 978-I-61234-715-8, 338 pp., $29.95 (Hardcover), $21.08 (Kindle). I wanted to read and review this book because Ambassador Mulford and I served together in … Read more

A Life Lived in CIA, the White House and the Two Koreas

November 2014

Review by Ted Wilkinson Pot Shards: Fragments of a Life Lived in CIA, the White House and the Two Koreas by Donald Gregg, New Academia Publishing, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-0990447115, 332 pages, $38.00 (Hardcover), $26.00 (Paperback), $7.99 (Kindle). Apart from its … Read more

The Indian Election: Historic but not the Magic Bullet

June 2014

by Jon DorschnerAlmost all observers agree that the recently concluded Indian election was historic.  By winning 282 seats, a gain of 166 from the previous election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won an outright majority in the Lok Sabha … Read more

Managing Conflicts in India

May 2014

Review by Jon P. Dorschner Managing Conflicts in India: Policies of Coercion and     Accommodation by Bidisha Biswas, Lexington          Books: Plymouth, United Kingdom, 2014, ISBN 13: 978-0-7391-8754-8, 144 pp. $75.00 (Hardcover), $59.95 (Kindle). The Indian narrative reflects an obsession … Read more

The International Community and Pakistan

April 2014

by Jon P. Dorschner  In his book Pakistan: A Hard Country1 Anatol Lieven joined the long parade of South Asia scholars attempting to A) explain what is happening, B) provide some explanatory variables C) provide specific foreign policy recommendations, and … Read more

U.S. Alliances in Northeast Asia

March 2014

By Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow, Counsel on Foreign Relations Text: http://www.cfr.org/asia-and-pacific/us-alliances-northeast-asia/p32533 Reviewed by Francis P. Sempa, Contributing Editor In recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sheila Smith of the counsel on Foreign Relations highlighted the importance of … Read more

Future Battlegound of Indo/Pakistan Rivalry

January 2014

Post Afghanistan 2014 Future Battlegound of Indo/Pakistan Rivalry by Jon P. Dorschner In May 2012, The United States and Afghanistan initialed a strategic partnership agreement committing the US and its ISAF partners to withdraw their combat troops from Afghanistan by … Read more