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Thailand: Endgültiger Abschied von König Bhumibol Adulyadej
No full textIm Oktober 2016 starb Bhumibol Adulyadej im Alter von 88 Jahren. Über ein Jahr nach seinem Tod wurde sein Leichnam eingeäschert. Offiziell pflegte Thailands konservative Elite dessen Image als Garant politischer Einheit und gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalts. In Wirklichkeit aber hinterlässt Bhumibol ein tief gespaltenes Land. Von wahrer Demokratie ist Thailand weiter entfernt als je zuvor
Silk road bottom-up: Regionale Perspektiven auf die >Belt and Road Initiative<
No full textMore than 2,000 years of trade along the Silk Route through Central Asia have “proved that countries with differences in race, belief and cultural background can absolutely share peace and development as long as they persist in unity and mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit, mutual tolerance and learning from each other, as well as cooperation and win-win outcomes.” So said Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan in late 2013, when for the first time he promoted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to open new land and maritime trade routes and infrastructure corridors across Central Asia, the Indian Ocean, and beyond. Like the Silk Road of old, the BRI is less a single corridor than a number of routes, including the China-Indian Ocean-Africa-Mediterranean Sea Blue Economic Passage, China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC)
August Wilhelm Schlegel und die Begründung der Indologie in Deutschland
No full textAugust Wilhelm Schlegel wird im Allgemeinen und nicht ohne Berechtigung als Begründer der deutschen Indologie bezeichnet. Als Gründungsdatum wird seine Berufung an die Bonner Universität im Jahr 1818 angegeben. Doch fachhistorische Lehrbuchformeln wie diese verbergen oft die eigentliche Geschichte. Strittig ist bereits die Frage der Priorität des Standorts, gab es doch zwei Universitäten, Berlin und Jena, welche ebenso früh das Sanskrit lehrten und damit die Vorrangstellung Bonns bestreiten könnten
The Analytics of Conflict and Studying its Economic Impact
No full textIn April 2016 it was reported that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) decided not to invest in the development of the Imphal- Jiribam and Imphal-Kohima highways (which link Manipur to Assam and Nagaland respectively) due to a law and order situation. The JICA was originally supposed to invest approx. 740$ million in the project but ultimately stalled it due to the increase in frequency of attacks across the conflict affected borderland areas of the North East (India). The nature of these attacks includes destruction of construction and property, abduction of labourers, contractors and the destruction of machinery. It’s important to study the economic impact of such incidents have in the long run, which is usually difficult to measure and goes well beyond the immediate loss in monetary terms. It is much more difficult to quantify the overall losses of future benefits that would have accrued if the highways were expanded and substantively improved. The potential benefits may include the enhanced mobility of goods and people; enhanced interconnectivity between Manipur, Nagaland and Assam; the expansion of private carriers (such as bus and taxi services) and the rise of new commodity markets (generating local employment) ultimately catering to an increase in traffic of people, goods and services. Moreover, the sources of internal conflict in the Indian context are multifaceted, yet share similar outcomes i.e. a massive burden on civilians, pervasive insecurity and large scale forced displacement. Areas experiencing instability and civil strife witness significant losses in “future potential” both in investment and the development of human capital. What is not measured is thus, the outflow of capital, the absence of investment, increasing security related expenditures, endemic unemployment and lack of opportunities for the youth in these areas. Therefore, in these studies of analytical frameworks attempting to study the economic impact of various conflicts, there seems to be a methodological lacuna in a) our mainstream understanding of given conflicts (i.e. violence from insurgency, naxalism etc.) and b) in studying its economic impact on the region (over the longer term). While a detailed historical narrative of each situation is beyond the scope of this article, we attempt at providing an overview of the existing statistical data, as an indicative variable to the levels of violence being experienced in various conflict affected areas in India
Fractured Narratives: Identities in a Political Vacuum
No full textThis article examines the dilemmas that India faced historically in its attempts to construct a coherent national narrative and a shared national identity. It is argued that the decline of the Congress Party and a larger loss of a unifying ideology in the 1980s created a political vacuum that resulted in attempts to shore up political support through appeals to identity-based politics. This in turn has served as an obstacle to inequality being bridged in India in the past decade. The void thrown open by the loss of Congress Party’s longstanding uncontested mandate to rule was seized by political parties that campaigned along cultural lines for political gains, unleashing a divisive and intolerant brand of politics based on competing claims of cultural rights
FDI in India: Do New Delhi and state governments need to re-think strategies?
No full textRecently, India emerged as the top FDI destination in the world, attracting 63 Billion USD in 2015 according to the fDi intelligence Report (The Business Standard, April 22, 2016). As is evident from Table 1, while India has been successful in raising the level of FDI, over the past decade, (as a result of domestic and global factors, there was a dip in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014), what is especially significant, is that India has overtaken China for the first time in terms of attraction of FDI. This success is being attributed to a number of factors, ranging from the current Modi government’s aggressive marketing of programs such as Make in India, liberalisation of FDI norms for 15 sectors in November 2015, enhancement in the ease of doing business, as well as the slowdown of China. It would be pertinent to point out, that one major contributor to India’s success in attracting FDI in recent years is the increasingly pro-active role played by states in attracting Foreign Direct Investment. […
China's Membership in SAARC: An Anxiety for India
No full textWith the dawn of the twenty-first century, the South Asian strategic landscape has witnessed significant shifts. The space has been predominantly shaped by the competitive rivalry between India and Pakistan, which is now witnessing a paradigmatic shift with the increasing Chinese influence in the region. Of which, the most noteworthy is that of the changing balance of power in South Asia. That is, China’s increasing economic and political clout is counter-balancing India’s longstanding supremacy. This is causing instability in the South Asian geostrategic environment. With this systemic power shift at play, India suffers an anxiety over China’s growing influence in its strategic backyard. The exemplary to India’s concern is evident in India’s strong resistance to grant China a full membership in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): feasibility and the need for an assessment of India’s role
No full textThe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC, a multi-billion dollar infrastructure investment project, is heralded as a game changer for Pakistan’s economy and regional cooperation. Being a crucial part of a major development initiative led by China, known as ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR), to connect Asia with Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the CPEC is much linked to hopes, interests, as well as regional and global geopolitics. However, such a megaproject raises numerous questions especially regarding the feasibility of its implementation, the impact on the region as well as the nature of India’s position towards the endeavour. (...
BREXIT: what does it mean for regional integration and South Asia?
No full textOn June 23, 2016, the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (UK) - mostly those residing in England and Wales - held a referendum that resulted in an overall vote to leave the European Union (EU). This socalled ‘BREXIT’, a fusionist portmanteau of the words ‘Britain’ and ‘exit’, properly coined on the pattern of GREXIT (referring to the potential exit of Greece from the EU), clearly indicates that the European project of regional integration reached a pivotal moment in time. There is no doubt, that BREXIT will have significant impact on the economic and political trajectories of Great Britain, the EU, and on the relations of Europe with the rest of the world
More Cooperation, More Terror? Enhanced Kabul-New Delhi Military Ties, Increasing Taliban Attacks, and the Role of Pakistan
No full textAfghanistan is once again facing a deteriorating security situation. In Helmand, the country’s largest province, the Taliban were able to make significant inroads and seriously challenge Afghan security forces. To make the situation even worse, the military successes of the Jihadist insurgent groups come at a time when the national government suffers from internal conflicts, deepening the existing rift between Afghanistan’s leading political figures, President Abdullah Abdullah and the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani. Considering the resurgence of the Jihadist insurgents and the fragile domestic political structure, New Delhi offered Kabul “full support for boosting Afghanistan’s defence capabilities to preserve its unity and territorial integrity”