Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘American F-16s had a tough flight to Ukraine – the journey ahead isn’t easy either’ has been published in ‘The Print’, on 25 August 2023.
How fast Ukraine can be trained for a completely different type of air machine remains to be seen, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘Saudi Arabia latest to join mediators in Ukraine war. But it was a PR exercise for Zelenskyy’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 11 August 2023.
The list of mediators is only growing: Saudi Arabia has joined Israel, Turkey, China, India, and Brazil. But all the talk is only rhetoric until the 2024 US election, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘Germany’s China document a sign of Europe’s changing perception. It’s shifting to New Delhi’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 28 July 2023.
Pessimists sighed at its ambiguity and optimists saw it as a balancing act. But it is a harbinger of the end of the golden era of Germany-China relations, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘25 years of France and India — a template of how to conduct relations in an unstable world’, has been published in ‘The Print’ on 14 July 2023.
France and India's desire to shape the emerging global order is key to their partnership — they are not “free riders, but free thinkers” that take pride in their own perspective, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article Wagner Group is a shadow instrument of Russian policy, product of a ‘deny-endorse’ paradox’ was published in ‘The Print’ on 30 June 2023.
Private military company Wagner has kept operating within the grey zone as a shadow instrument of State policy, giving the Russian Army a perfect alibi to invoke deniability, wrote Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘Germany is undergoing end-of-an-era change. But its National Security Strategy still half-baked’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 16 June 2023.
The Ukraine war highlighted Europe’s vulnerabilities in three critical dependencies on Russia, China, and NATO. Berlin's increased defence spending shows its awakening, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘NATO knocking on Indo-Pacific door. How India can make the best of this opportunity’ was published in ‘The Print’ on 02 June 2023.
From India’s perspective, it is important that a more global avatar of NATO has been engaging with its arch rivals China and Pakistan, says Dr Rao.
Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘Pakistan’s oil deal with Russia shows it’s getting best of ‘both worlds’ India must take note’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 19 May 2023.
Pakistan’s oil deal with Russia is being touted as a major success story of a Western ally circumventing Western sanctions. Nothing could be more half-baked, says Dr Rao.
The future of Europe’s security architecture will depend largely on how well it blends its dependence and deepening with NATO on the one hand and its quest for strategic autonomy on the other.
