October' 23
The IUP Journal of International Relations
China, Invasions in Europe and De-Dollarization: Dismembering Empires and Collapse of Nations
Assessments of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are limited to 20th century ideas of conquest/colonialism. They are tied to ideological frameworks of human history where ill-defined concepts of liberal democracy and totalitarian states are juxtaposed as if there were established typologies of governments. The history of Western involvement in the post-USSR era has certain similarities to the division of the Ottoman Empire from 1919. The goals of the current invasion, however, are seen in a too constrained space of international conflict and should be set into a broader framework of finance and investments. Resistance of the Ukrainians to Russian aggression creates an interesting laboratory to study the resilience of populations' ideas of legitimacy where institutions have been undermined by corruption. As the strength of institutions and their interrelations are essential to understanding how societies survive or fragment under external or internal stress, reference to how some institutions, both economic and political, function in the US will be utilized. The future can be defined by failure, an ISIS-like disaster of warlords in both Ukraine and Russia or some negotiated settlement that ends the war in a compromise of issues. As with the economic and political crises after WWI, today, the West faces challenges both to its economic dominance (especially the US dollar) and political realignment with China and Russia producing a new polar opposition to the Anglosphere. Full Article..
India's Renewed Engagement with Zimbabwe
India, as a rising global power, has been furthering its political, economic and sociocultural interests in every part of the world, including Africa. Having had close historical relations with the continent, India however did not actively get involved in most of the African nations for much of the latter part of the 20th century. It is only in recent times that India has started to rekindle its ties with the continent. This paper examines the developing relationship between India and Zimbabwe in light of the various high-level meetings held and agreements reached covering several sectors between the two countries over the past few years. Full Article..
US Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Role of Neighbors and Implications for India
The US-Taliban peace agreement has raised certain questions that need to be investigated and answered: Has the US achieved its goal in Afghanistan or not? Has the US, in these two decades of war on terror, really brought stability in Afghanistan? Was the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Afghanistan done with dignity? This paper attempts to investigate and answer these questions. The paper has also tried to see the role of neighboring countries post US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US withdrawal has put Afghanistan in a lawless condition. The people of Afghanistan are at the mercy of Taliban which has not yet been recognized by any country. Afghanistan has been facing many problems at home as well as at international level. Officially, the Taliban government has not been able to establish embassies in any country, and it has no faith in its earlier ambassadors. It is mostly dependent on the unofficial support from China and Russia, as of now. A small state in all senses-economically, politically, geographically, and militarily-Afghanistan is prey to international politics. Full Article..