C. Raja Mohan

The room for maneuver of the ruling elite in Tehran is currently being hemmed in by a confluence of rigidity, fracture, decay and war, the very dynamics that have historically led to the erosion of revolutionary regimes and their incipient end.

REVOLUTIONARY regimes rarely collapse in a single dramatic moment.

As AI systems begin to simulate negotiation outcomes, generate policy options, and model crisis responses, the temptation to let them decide will grow. While AI can scan vast archives and detect patterns, it can also make serious errors in interpreting history or assessing present circumstances

Trump’s war exposes the limits of collective action among the lesser powers.

Collective action by lesser powers will not shape the global order.

Elections have political consequences; when they occur in border states, they also have foreign policy implications. Divergences between the Centre and border states have long complicated India's neighbourhood policy.

The lesson is straightforward. In foreign policy, there is no substitute for nurturing trusted partnerships even while seeking new opportunities

Shifts in great-power relations, the emergence of wars and global crises — these are variables India cannot control. What it can drive is its own modernisation

Unlike the US, the Indian elite has little social intimacy or political familiarity with Russia or China. There is only the G-to-G relationship and the coded diplo-speak associated with it

Tokyo is not breaking from its One China policy. But it has increasingly signalled that a military conflict over Taiwan would have direct consequences for Japan