History, ethnicity, culture, and religion have played a key role in India-Myanmar bilateral relations. Whether it is linkages to Buddhism or geographical proximity, the two countries understand the significance of their bond despite the complications. The inconsistent democracy in Myanmar has created "ups and downs" in bilateral relations while posing many challenges for India. India's policy with respect to Myanmar lacks clarity and a long-term vision unlike China's strategic framework.1 India's patient and quiet diplomacy towards Myanmar lacks long-term visions. Hence, anything short-term necessitates punctual transitions. India must adopt a realist policy but with a smidgen of idealism.2 This idealism would not be against the Indian national interest and would definitely pay off in its rivalry with China. The paper focuses on how India's relation with Myanmar is influenced by the absence of a proper democratic institution. It explores the influence of Tatmadaw's rule on the Sino-Indian energy conflict in Myanmar. The paper draws insights from the history of India-Myanmar relations to analyze India's current potentiality to outplay China in gaining diplomatic advantage and reaping greater advantages.
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The symbolic value of North Korea in contemporary global politics is discussed in the historic and cultural context. The relationship with Japan and China and invasions and trade relations are considered over the past 2000 years as well as in the past century. The role of Japanese and Chinese competition for the Korean Peninsula is incorporated into the post-WWII anti-Americanism and anti-communism of the area, especially post-WWII dictatorships in South Korea. The post-Cold War image of North Korea has become increasingly tragicomic and irrational. It is the essential "Other" today, and reflects all that is not embodied in the nature of a modern humanity. This characterization extends from the leaders to the people who are illustrated in the news, films and other media in the West as childish, animal-like or brutalized as if devoid of intelligence or humanity. The effect is only continuing conflict and isolation.
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All wars end rightly, said Fred Charles Ikle, but through negotiation and diplomatic dialogue, not by complete annihilation of another civilization or change of regime. On the contrary, the Russia-Ukraine war despite several rounds of negotiation and meditations by Israel, Turkey, Germany and France is not showing any sign of slowing down since it started. The war has escalated with each passing day, leading to the firing of hypersonic missiles into several cities of Ukraine by the Russian forces. Despite all-out Western sanctions, stern and repeated warnings from the US and Europe, requests from the United Nations and intervention from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the war is not dying down. This has invited the attention of many and therefore the paper attempts to know and examine what went wrong in Ukraine and why Russia is so desperate to capture the nation in its geopolitical orbit. To diagnose the crisis and figure out the factors underneath the ongoing war between the two erstwhile brothers, this paper adopts a geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-cultural perspective.
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