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South Asia

America Is Fighting the Wrong Drone War

OPINION – For two decades, U.S. drones hunting terrorists across the mountains of South Asia were the symbol of American military power: precise, [...] More

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A Fragile Truce at the Durand Line: Will the Afghanistan–Pakistan Ceasefire Last?

OPINION — One of the most enduring security issues in South Asia has been rekindled by the recent border conflicts between the Taliban-led [...] More

Afghanistan Is Becoming India and Pakistan’s Proxy Battlefield—Again

OPINION — On Oct. 15, 2025, Islamabad and Kabul announced a 48-hour ceasefire after days of shelling and cross-border clashes around Spin [...] More

The Case for Caution in the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship

OPINION — During the ten-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the United States leveraged Pakistan’s geostrategic position to support the Afghan [...] More

The Afghan Debacle Should Prompt China to Revise its South Asian Policy

The Afghan Debacle Should Prompt China to Revise its South Asian Policy

This piece was first published by RUSI in London. The views do not represent those of RUSI.EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — While China has tried to rebalance [...] More

Trends in Global Terrorism

Bottom Line Up FrontAccording to the U.S. State Department, global terrorism clustered in three regions in 2018, with South Asia, the Middle East, [...] More

Putin Flexes Russian Muscle Abroad

Bottom Line Up FrontVladimir Putin has consolidated Russian power in Moscow’s near abroad and traditional sphere of influence.The Kremlin has also [...] More

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent: The Nucleus of Jihad in South Asia

Bottom Line Up FrontThe U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will give terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) more room [...] More

Modi: Modernizing India

Modi: Modernizing India

In an announcement that caught many by surprise, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government would discontinue its two largest currency [...] More

India: A Stronger Country with Stronger Relationships

Since becoming prime minister in 2014, Narendra Modi has pursued a more prominent and active role for India on the world stage in a bid to increase [...] More

The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Modinomics

Before becoming prime minister, Narendra Modi became famous for developing the “Gujarat Model” for economic growth. Despite being poor in tourism and [...] More

Stoking Tensions in an Already Volatile Region

South Asia’s critical transboundary waterways are facing unprecedented pressures as a result of rapidly increasing populations, high demand for [...] More

Sorting Through Water Wars Rhetoric

The eye catching headlines are familiar. “Water Wars” are imminent or already underway in the latest drought or dam-building hotspot. Such “wars” [...] More