West Asia

About Centre

The West Asia Centre seeks to cover issues, themes and countries of the region which are undergoing rapid political transformation impacting the political and security situation of the region and beyond. Popular protests demanding political and economic reforms and the subsequent fall of some long ruling authoritarian rulers and the rise of Islamists to power have significantly changed the region’s political landscape. GCC-Iran rivalry, Shia-Sunni sectarian conflict, external intervention in the region, and the rise of religious radicalism have further aggravated the situation. The Centre is closely following the unfolding internal political developments in individual countries as well as the regional political scenario.

The historical shifts in the region and domestic political developments will have a significant impact on India’s external environment. With huge stakes in the region such as energy, trade and safety of Indian citizens in the region, it has become important for India to carefully watch developments taking place in its ‘extended neighbourhood.’ These and other related issues are being focused upon by the scholars at the Centre. The Centre continues to hold regular bilateral dialogues with some leading think tanks in West Asia thus facilitating exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Current projects being pursued in the Centre are:

  • Linking South and Central and West Asia: Transportation and Energy Cooperation
  • Political transformations in the Arab world and implications for India
  • Regional organisation in Gulf: The Gulf Cooperation Council
  • India-Arab relations and partnership
  • Iran’s domestic and foreign policies
  • India’s Engagement with Iran: Prospects and challenges.

Members:

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Prasanta Kumar Pradhan Research Fellow
Deepika Saraswat Associate Fellow
Abhishek Yadav Research Analyst
Hirak Jyoti Das Research Analyst

The Domestic Linkages to Eurasian States’ Perception on Global Politics: ‘Normative Idioms’ versus Empirical Practices

Eurasia’s preponderance in global politics is gaining because of its location, resources, as well as mosaic population having diverse ethnic backgrounds. Since the invasion by the Mongolians in the 13th century, Eurasia as a geopolitical unity, attempted by Chengiz Khan, has been the foundation for Russia’s policies towards this region, which has been a hotbed of competition among the Persian, Turkic and Russian Tsarist empires, and the British Empire also competed for influence in the region.

Russia’s Pivot to Asia: Myth or Reality?

The article discusses the changes in Russia’s policy towards Asia, arguing that Russia’s pivot to Asia is a reality, one that is motivated by both political and economic interests. And although that shift is not progressing as quickly as some might want and occasionally encounters difficulties, the process has definitely begun and is in all likelihood irreversible. Only a small, marginal segment of Russian society continues to dream of unity with Europe—which itself has entered a period of severe crisis.

Russia and the European Union: Lessons Learned and Goals Ahead

The current crisis and pause in development of the EU–Russia relations provide a unique chance to shed the burden of past problems and start new relations from scratch. Both sides should sort out their values and get rid of the ballast generated by the bureaucratic inertia or false understandings of partnership. Russia and Europe are unlikely to evolve a common vision for the future. Their future is not in unity but in co-existing next to each other. It is time that Russia and the EU clearly formulate their real interests and try to make relations predictable.

Russia’s Participation in International Environmental Cooperation

While environmental issues attract growing interest all over the world Russia has kept aside from this trend for a long time. Its participation in international environmental cooperation has always been determined primarily by the external policy’s objectives. In Soviet times, participation in global environmental initiatives was a channel of collaboration with the West. In the 1990s, it was a means of integration into the international community and one of the major areas of cooperation with the US.

The Evolution of National Security Thinking in Post-Soviet Russia

This article contributes to the rich body of literature on Russian security perceptions and analyses how Russian security thinking evolved over the last 20 years. The focus of the article is on how Russian security perspective shifted from the goal of assuring Russian security by integration and cooperation with the West to the idea of Russia’s own separate geo-economic project and the goal of reducing the country’s dependencies on the West. Security in this article is understood both as a military-political and as an economic phenomenon.

The Articulated Strategy to Fight the Islamic State: Is It Self-Defeating?

President Barack Obama has detailed his strategy to degrade, defeat and ultimately destroy the Islamic State (IS) (the IS is also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]) currently considered the most threatening of the various terrorist groups operating primarily in the Middle East. Fundamental to the success of the strategy is military action aimed at degrading the combat capabilities of the fighting elements of the IS.