Deepika Saraswat

Dr. Deepika Saraswat is Associate Fellow at the West Asia Center. Her research interests include Iran’s geopolitics in Middle East and Eurasia and interpenetration of religion and politics in postcolonial contexts. Her research project at MP-IDSA is on ‘Iran’s Asian Orientation: Quest for Status and Regional Cooperation.Dr. Saraswat has a PhD in Political Geography from Centre for International Politics Organisation and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Earlier, Dr. Saraswat was Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs (March 2018-October 2021). Her book titled ‘Between Survival and Status: The Counter-hegemonic Geopolitics of Iran’ was jointly published by the Indian Council of World Affairs and Macmillan Education in January 2022.

Associate Fellow

Publication

In Iran, a battle between polarising political views

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Deepika Saraswat's article 'In Iran, a battle between polarising political views' was published in Hindustan Times, on 01 July 2024.

The Pezeshkian-Jalili run-off on July 5 will be a showdown between the two most polarising political visions for the country, says Dr Saraswat.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

President Raisi’s demise leaves Iran at a crossroads

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Deepika Saraswat's article 'President Raisi's demise leaves Iran at a cross roads' has been published in Hindustan Times on 21 May, 2024.

Raisi’s rise to the presidency had been systematically brought about by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as part of a generational change in Iran’s political leadership, says Dr Saraswat.

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The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in anyway reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

Iran: Part of an ‘Axis’ or a Middle Power in (Eur)Asia

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Deepika Saraswat’s article 'Iran: Part of an ‘Axis’ or a Middle Power in (Eur)Asia' was published by NatStrat Centre for Research on Strategic and Security Issues on 01 April 2024.

During the ongoing transitional phase in international and regional politics, while Iran continues to counter US influence in West Asia, in (Eur)Asia, it is behaving like a middle power utilising multilateral diplomacy, its geographical centrality and sources of ideational power to shape not only a post-Western but also a post-hegemonic geopolitical order, says Dr Saraswat.

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Deciphering the shadow war between Iran, Israel

January 24, 2024

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Deepika Saraswat’s article ‘Deciphering the shadow war between Iran, Israel’ has been published in Hindustan Times on 24 January 2024.

What is clear is that what started as a Hamas-Israel conflict three months ago has morphed into a shadow war between Israel and Iran, says Dr Saraswat.

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