An Indian's take on world affairs.

This article is a part of a new series of reports called "The Euroquestion" where we explore the individual future prospects of the leading nations in the European Union, and then delve into the collective prospects of the EU as a bloc and explore its destiny. Italy, being one of the "Big 3" economic powers of Europe, is in a period of great flux, both in its internal affairs, as well as its affairs within the European Union. As one of the few countries in Europe that are ruled by a right-wing government, namely the Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) under the incumbent prime minister Giorgia Meloni, it is signalling a shift from its traditional post-WWII stances, through tougher stances on immigration and economic austerity. With a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.46 trillion, Italy is a major player in the economic affairs of the European Union, with its famed luxury goods, products and automobile industries, with a perception of luxury and quality asso...

This article is a part of a new series of reports called "The Euroquestion" where we explore the individual future prospects of the leading nations in the European Union, and then delve into the collective prospects of the EU as a bloc and explore its destiny. France's president Emmanuel Macron has just concluded a pivotal visit to the United States, where Ukraine was taken up along with many other significant issues. This visit is proving to be a consequential visit for the future of the war in Ukraine, and its future course. Through this step by the French government, France is seeming to signal its intent of assuming a more proactive role in European security policy, with regards to its internal security, as well as outside the European Union, with its advanced involvement in the Indo-Pacific, through its strategy for the region. With a nominal GDP of US$3.2 trillion, France is one of the three leading economies of the European Union, and with a GDP growth of 0.7% in 2...

This article is a part of a new series of reports called "The Euroquestion" where we explore the individual future prospects of the leading nations in the European Union, and then delve into the collective prospects of the EU as a bloc and explore its destiny. Germany has just concluded its federal snap elections, where the centre-right Christian Democratic Union along with its sister party, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria looks set to form the incoming government under the chancellorship of Friedrich Merz. As of now, the coalition partner remains undecided, but the CDU/CSU looks to be in the driver's seat in terms of the broad governing agenda. Today, Germany is suffering from widespread economic stagnation with its gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 0.2% in the 2024 calendar year and by 0.3% in 2023. This is considered a recession by most economists, which does not bode well for a country claiming to be the "economic leader" of the European Unio...

The White House I, Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>  via Wikimedia Commons The United States under the current administration, has started to leverage its position in the global order by means of weaponizing its economic dominance. This has come at quite a tumultuous time for the global order, and global economic politics. The US has declared that it will impose a tariff of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico, with China facing an additional 10% tariff over and above the existing rate 1 . This reflects the US' increasing desire to distance itself from the global economic order, or rather its role in the global economic order of propping up its allies. This move signifies arguably the most significant economic policy shift since World War II, when the US started to dole out money to stop the spread of communism into Europe under the Marshall Plan. The new America is a nation that is looking to create an own "walled garden" ...

 What makes a great nation-state, great? Is it its economy? Its military strength? Its soft power, perhaps? While all these are the right questions and the answer to all of them is YES (to a certain extent), there is a crucial piece of the puzzle that is very often overlooked. So much so, that due to the overlooking of this factor, many great nations that should have risen to power, either did not manage to do so, or missed the bus leading to greater difficulty in achieving their supreme national interests. The single greatest catalytic factor in the rise of a nation, is the national mindset. A collective state of mind that reflects a nation's priorities, opinions, values and beliefs. Here, values and beliefs are referred to in more a materialist, pragmatic sense, rather than the usual cultural or traditional sense. The priorities of a collective, such as a society or in this case, a national collective frame of mind, is very well reflected by how its populace views the world aroun...

CGO Complex, New Delhi. Widely believed to be the headquarters of the Research and Analysis Wing. Zzaamm / Commons CC-BY 3.0 Entebbe. Cyclone. Rubicon. Jungle. Condor.  What do these names have in common? These are the codenames of highly sensitive and clandestine operations of the Mossad, CIA, and MI6. Highly trained, highly adept and highly efficient world-class intelligence agencies, capable of carrying out unprecedented operations across the seven seas.  What do they also have in common? Their home countries are known to be great powers known to dramatically influence and shape global perspectives and outlooks, with copious amounts of soft and hard power to boot. Through such organisations, select polities around the world are able to exert an unprecedented amount of power and influence in the global soft power war, and through the power of perceptions and public opinions alone, are able to change opinions, spark rebellion, and topple regimes thousands of kilometres away. ...