Opinion

Mohammad Reza Farzanegan   The US-Israeli war with Iran has revealed how instability can become a powerful political instrument. Leaders can exploit crises to maintain supporters’ loyalty, even while imposing costs on them, and extract concessions from domestic and foreign adversaries through coercion and manufactured...

Ajit Ranade A falling rupee is usually treated as a macroeconomic problem. It raises the cost of imports, worsens inflationary pressures, unsettles investors and dents national pride. But India’s recent experience has produced a curious paradox. The same rupee weakness that creates external stress has...

The rupee has breached Rs 96-a-dollar mark and is now racing towards crossing the psychological Rs 100 barrier, despite repeated efforts to steady its fall. As the dollar surges, markets grow nervous, policymakers scramble for answers, and ordinary Indians brace for rising costs. The weakening...

The United Arab Emirates' decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ after nearly six decades of membership has dealt a major structural blow to the cartel. Losing its third-largest producer—capable of pumping nearly five million barrels a day, with ambitions to expand further—will make it increasingly...

By Ranajoy Sen Raking up accusations against Indian policies regarding water resources has become an inveterate foreign policy practice of Bangladesh. The current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Tarique Rahman, helms a relatively new Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration in his country; he opined that in...

By DV Ramana & Sarada Prasanna Das Tamil Nadu’s newly elected Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay began his first innings by announcing free electricity for household consumers. Whether this announcement is driven by electoral strategy or welfare concerns, only time will tell. However, such announcements...

By Santosh Kumar Mohapatra As global crude oil prices soar amid the escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently urged citizens to embrace austerity. Certainly, during moments of global turbulence, responsible citizenship matters. Yet beneath this moral appeal lies...

By Nikunja Bihari Sahu The hot summer days are back with vengeance! With daytime temperatures soaring over 400 °C in many parts of Odisha, the current season promises to be painfully hot. Interior districts are boiling with sweltering heat driven by hot and dry westerly...

By Rajdeep Sardesai The most revealing political statement post-elections this month has not come from a television studio talking head or a noisy social media troll. It has come from a newly elected BJP MLA in West Bengal, Ritesh Tiwari, who told an audience: “They...

By Carla Norrlöf The United States has unprecedented power to conduct military strikes anywhere around the world, to impose damaging tariffs and sanctions, and to mete out punishment far beyond its borders in coordination with allies. Few states have possessed so many instruments of coercion,...