Podcasts about south asia program

Interview with Sameer Lalwani on India-Pakistan: 21:30 This week, Kelly and Tristen digest the recent elections in Australia and President Putin's WWII victory day parade, and remember the life and legacy of legendary IR scholar Joseph Nye. Kelly then talks with to Sameer Lalwani for an update on recent tensions between India and Pakistan.  Sameer Lalwani is a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He was formerly a senior expert in the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace, director of the Stimson Center's South Asia Program, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, and a Stanton nuclear security fellow at the RAND Corporation.  His research has also been published in Security Studies, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Small Wars & Insurgencies, Survival, The Washington Quarterly, Asian Survey, Foreign Affairs, and the New York Times. The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly those of the participants and do not represent the views of Georgetown University or any government entity. Produced by Theo Malhotra and Freddie Mallinson.  Recorded on May 12, 2025. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more, visit our website, and follow us on Linkedin, Twitter @GUDiplomacy, and Instagram @isd.georgetown  

The United Nations urges calm between India and Pakistan. Relations have plummeted after gunmen killed tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. Furious rhetoric and diplomatic actions by both sides are keeping tensions high. How serious is this crisis? In this episode: Maleeha Lodhi, Columnist for DAWN newspaper and former Pakistani ambassador Sumantra Bose, Author of ‘Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st-Century Conflict’ Elizabeth Threlkeld, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia Program at the Stimson Center Host: Cyril Vanier Connect with us:@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Anya Golovkova about the world of Śrīvidyā and the Hindu tantric traditions. We learn about her background growing up in Russia and then discovering South Asian studies later in life in New York City, eventually going on to pursue a PhD on Śrīvidyā texts and traditions. We discuss the category of "tantra," the role of the Goddess within tantric traditions, the history of Śrīvidyā, the major texts of the tradition, the nature of the Śrī Cakra, contemporary Śrīvidyā traditions, and much more. We close by previewing her upcoming course, YS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the Goddess. Speaker BioAnya Golovkova is a historian of Asian Religions and a Sanskritist. Prior to joining Lake Forest College as Assistant Professor of Religion, she was an A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion at Bowdoin College and a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University's South Asia Program. Dr. Golovkova completed her Ph.D. in Asian Studies at Cornell University and holds a B.A. (with distinction) in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication from Moscow State Linguistics University, an M.A. in the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, and a Master of Studies (with distinction) in Oriental Studies from Oxford University. Dr. Golovkova has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited book chapters. She is the co-editor (with Hugh Urban and Hillary Langberg) of The Tantric World, forthcoming from Routledge. Her forthcoming monograph, A Goddess for the Second Millennium: The Making of Śrīvidyā, is the first comprehensive study of a Hindu Tantric (esoteric) tradition called Śrīvidyā. Dr. Golovkova serves as the Co-Chair of the Tantric Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion, the largest scholarly society dedicated to the academic study of religion, with more than 8,000 members around the world.LinksYS 133 | Śrīvidyā: Tantric Wisdom of the GoddessGolovkova, Anna A. “Śrīvidyā.” Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, and Angelika Malinar, Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol. 4. 815–22. Leiden [etc.]: Brill, 2012.https://lakeforest.academia.edu/AnnaAAnyaGolovkova 

Acknowledgement of Country//Headlines//Uncle Wayne 'Coco' Wharton - Free Palestine Melbourne Rally 8th SeptemberWe listened to Uncle Wayne 'Coco' Wharton, Kooma Murri Activist visiting from Magan-djin, speaking at this Sunday's Free Palestine Rally, outside State Library, 8th September. Later that day, also Uncle Coco spoke at the official launch event for Disrupt Land Forces held at Camp Sovereignty - Lest We Forget: The Frontier Wars. 3CR will be including audio from the event and other Disrupt actions in our special coverage across the week so stay tuned and listen back at 3cr.org.au/dlf2024 // Antipoverty Centre - National Suicide Prevention StrategyKristin O'Connell from the Antipoverty Centre joins us to discuss the relationship between poverty and suicide in the wake of World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, when the Albanese government handed down its draft National Suicide Prevention Strategy.// Farhana Sultana - 'Bangladesh Now: Beyond the Headlines'We heard a clip of Farhana Sultana, Professor of Geography at Syracuse University, speaking during the webinar 'Bangladesh Now: Beyond the Headlines' organised by the Cornell-Syracuse South Asia Consortium. This virtual event was held on 29 August 2024, bringing together scholars in New York and activists in Bangladesh to share personal nuance and academic analysis to headlines from the beginning of the student-led quota reform movement on June 6th to the creation of an interim government upon the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5th. Our thanks to the South Asia Program at Cornell for sharing this audio with us - you can watch the full webinar here and keep up to date with the South Asia Program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @SAPCornell.// Live Broadcast to Disrupt Land Forces - 12th SeptemberWe crossed live to 3CR reporters on the ground at this morning's actions for Disrupt Land Forces. Land Forces event is the largest land based weapons expo in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2024 it will be held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre and a coalition of community groups working for a world free of war is organising a festival of resistance running from 8-14 September. Check out the Disrupt Calendar of Events, and watch the 3CR coverage here at https://www.3cr.org.au/dlf2024 - in the lead up and during the week! Be sure to check out Melbourne Activist Legal before attending events, be prepared, attend with a buddy and/or affinity group, and look out for each other in the next coming days with check-ins, meals, support of all kinds.// Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah - Anti-Palestinian racism in australian mainstream mediaDr Randa Abdel-Fattah spoke with us about anti-Palestinian racism in Australian mainstream media and concerns about media oversight by the Australian Press Council in the wake of a decision on her complaints to the APC regarding inaccuracies and misinformation shared in an article by The Age's Chief Reporter Chip Le Grand earlier this year. Dr Abdel-Fattah is a Future Fellow at Macquarie University. Her research areas cover Islamophobia, race, Palestine, the war on terror, youth identities and social movement activism. Dr Abdel-Fattah is also a lawyer and the multi-award-winning author of 12 books for children and young adults. Read her piece about the APC's decision on Le Grand's article here on Pearls and Irritations.//Image credit: Matt Hrkac, 2024. Support Matt's excellent frontline photojournalism here.//

Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority in India's parliament. The stunning blow is forcing Modi to rely on allies to form a government for the first time since he stormed to power a decade ago. On today's episode of The Big Take Asia, host K. Oanh Ha digs into India's 2024 general election results with Bloomberg reporter Sudhi Ranjan Sen on the ground in New Delhi. And Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, delves into what the results mean for both India and the world. Read more: India Election ResultsTo hear more from Milan Vaishnav listen to his podcast, Grand Tamasha.To hear more about our coverage of Narendra Modi, listen to our series, The Rise of Modi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority in India's parliament. The stunning blow is forcing Modi to rely on allies to form a government for the first time since he stormed to power a decade ago. On today's episode of The Big Take Asia, host K. Oanh Ha digs into India's 2024 general election results with Bloomberg reporter Sudhi Ranjan Sen on the ground in New Delhi. And Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, delves into what the results mean for both India and the world. Read more: India Election ResultsTo hear more from Milan Vaishnav listen to his podcast, Grand Tamasha.To hear more about our coverage of Narendra Modi, listen to our series, The Rise of Modi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at Center for a New American Security, and Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discuss the geopolitical implications of India's general elections and the influence of religion on politics in India. Alyssa Ayres, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and adjunct senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, moderates the discussion.

India's general election will begin on Friday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third straight term in power. The election is set to be the biggest in history, with nearly a billion Indians eligible to cast ballots. Modi remains popular in India but has been criticized for his human rights record and attacks on the media and judiciary. We'll preview the election, which runs through June, and hear from members of the Bay Area's Indian communities. Guests: Anita Manwani, president, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Silicon Valley Nikhil Inamdar, Indian business correspondent, BBC Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director, South Asia Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; host, Grand Tamasha podcast Raju Rajagopal, co-founder, Hindus for Human Rights

On this episode of This Is Democracy, Jeremi and Zachary are joined by Milan Vaishnav to discuss the scale and future impact of India’s 2024 general election. Zachary sets the scene with his poem entitled, “A Democratic Quest” Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment […]

India had the world's largest economy until the 17th century but suffered almost 500 years of decline afterward. However, India is currently the world's most populous nation with one of the largest economies, growing faster this year than any other major country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought stability to India, making the country economically and geopolitically resurgent. Critics worry that Modi's democracy is too autocratic and inward-looking, rooted in Hindu nationalism. India's future is uncertain as centrifugal forces of religion, inequality, and nationalism could overwhelm the current growth. Will India continue to evolve and become a global power? Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington and an accomplished India watcher. He shared some answers in this episode of the New Thinking for a New World podcast. This podcast was first published on May 18, 2023

In May, ASPI released ‘Smooth sailing? Australia, New Zealand and the United States partnering in–and with–the Pacific islands'. The report detailed how Australia, New Zealand and the United States could improve security partnerships and coordination in the region. This week, ASPI's Bec Shrimpton speaks to report authors Joanne Wallis and Anna Powles. They discuss the key recommendations from the report, including setting up an ASEAN-style forum for Pacific island nations, as well as the need for Pacific priorities to direct the actions that partners undertake in the region. They also discuss how Australia, New Zealand and the United States have engaged with the Pacific in the past and explore opportunities to strengthen engagement. Recently, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released the 'Indian Ocean Strategic Map', which provides a coherent, data-driven understanding of the players, security challenges, and other factors that shape the region. ASPI's Baani Grewal speaks to Darshana M. Baruah, a fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. They discuss the key takeaways from the project, the importance of viewing the region as one continuous theater, and the emergence of China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia as players in the region. Mentioned in this episode: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/smooth-sailing https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/06/15/mapping-indian-ocean-region-pub-89971 Music: "Rodeo Drive" by Eazy, licensed with permission from the Independent Music Licensing Collective - imlcollective.uk

India had the world's largest economy until the 17th century but suffered almost 500 years of decline afterward. However, India is currently the world's most populous nation with one of the largest economies, growing faster this year than any other major country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought stability to India, making the country economically and geopolitically resurgent. Critics worry that Modi's democracy is too autocratic and inward-looking, rooted in Hindu nationalism. India's future is uncertain as centrifugal forces of religion, inequality, and nationalism could overwhelm the current growth. Will India continue to evolve and become a global power? Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington and an accomplished India watcher. He shared some answers in this episode of the New Thinking for a New World podcast.

How is the Quad navigating China's growing power and influence in the region? How do the four countries balance their domestic security priorities with their commitments under the partnership? And does India's position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine create compatibility challenges?In this episode of the National Security Podcast, Darshana Baruah, Lisa Curtis and Professor Nobukatsu Kanehara join Professor Rory Medcalf to discuss the Quad partnership at a key time for Indo-Pacific diplomacy. Darshana M. Baruah is a Fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she directs the Indian Ocean Initiative.Lisa Curtis is Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.Nobukatsu Kanehara is Professor of Political Science at Doshisha University. He was previously Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Professor Rory Medcalf AM is Head of the ANU National Security College. His professional experience spans more than three decades across diplomacy, intelligence analysis, think tanks, journalism and academia. Show notes: ANU National Security College academic programs: find out moreWe'd love to hear from you! Send in your questions, comments, and suggestions to NatSecPod@anu.edu.au. You can tweet us @NSC_ANU and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes. The National Security Podcast is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The next episode of Migrations: A World on the Move is coming soon! In the meantime, enjoy this introduction to a new podcast from our colleagues at the South Asia Program, available now wherever you get your podcasts. 

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is investing billions of dollars to boost manufacturing and attract foreign investment in his rapidly growing country. Modi's ambitious goal: To propel India to the top ranks of global economic powers, alongside the US and China. Bloomberg journalists Kai Schultz and Vrishti Beniwal join this episode to explain how he intends to do that–and the tall challenges he'll face along the way. And Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talks about Modi's successes, and stumbles, as he navigates India's complex political and religious cross-currents. Read more on this story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-01-23/india-s-1-4-billion-population-could-become-world-economy-s-new-growth-engine?srnd=bigtake Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milan Vaishnav talks about the different aspect of the Indian diaspora in America. Milan is a Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Milan Vaishnav on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MilanVMilan on Substack: https://milanvaishnav.substack.com/“The Grand Tamasha” Podcast: https://grand-tamasha.simplecast.com/Music:Opening Theme Music by Brandon Duke"East Chill" by Boomer (licensed through Storyblocks).Produced by Karkata Media LLC in association with Perspicacity Media LLC.Copyright 2022, Karkata Media LLC.

Relentless floods in Pakistan have resulted in thousands of deaths, widespread displacement, and economic devastation. Today, we discuss these impacts as well as Pakistan's broader economic and climate change challenges, the ongoing political crisis, and developments on the foreign policy front. Joining us today are Syed Mohammad Ali, Elizabeth Threlkeld, and Arif Rafiq. Mohammed Ali is a non-resident scholar with MEI's Afghanistan and Pakistan Program and a weekly columnist for Pakistan's Express Tribune. Elizabeth is a Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center. She previously served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State in Pakistan in Islamabad and Peshawar. Arif is the president of Vizier Consulting, a political risk advisory company focused on the Middle East and South Asia. He's also a non-resident scholar with MEI's Afghanistan and Pakistan Program.

The Strategic Importance of the Indo-PacificSpanning from East Africa to the West Coast of the United States, the Indo-Pacific is a large and complex region encompassing two oceans and countless islands and maritime powers. In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Darshana Baruah about maritime security in Asia as well as recent developments in the Indo-Pacific. Having both recently participated in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Paul and Darshana discuss key takeaways from Asia's premier security summit. Darshana also shares her perspectives on shifting geopolitical dynamics in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Islands as well as new trends in India's foreign policy.Darshana M. Baruah is a fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she leads the Indian Ocean Initiative. Her primary research focuses on maritime security in Asia and the role of the Indian Navy in a new security architecture. Darshana's research on the Indian Ocean can be found here: https://carnegieendowment.org/publications/interactive/indian-ocean-map.

In this episode of Asia Insight, moderator Michael Wills is joined by experts discussing the four partner countries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Hayley Channer is a senior policy fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre, Sheila Smith is a senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Alison Szalwinski is vice president of research at the National Bureau of Asian Research, and Akriti Vasudeva is a fellow with the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center.

Over the weekend, Australian voters elected a new government with the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Anthony Albanese at the helm, ousting the ruling Liberal-National Coalition for the first time in a decade. Key to the ALP's landmark victory was the vote of the Indo-Australians, now the second largest immigrant group in Australia.A new Carnegie study co-authored by Devesh Kapur, Caroline Duckworth, and our very own Milan Vaishnav, sheds light on three elements of the Indo-Australian community's political behavior: the community's political preferences, leadership preferences, and policy priorities. This week, we put Milan in the hot seat to discuss his new study along with Caroline Duckworth, a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in Carnegie's South Asia Program. We also wanted to turn the tables on Milan to ask him about his recent trip to Delhi—his first in the COVID-era. We talk about India's ongoing heat wave, the political mood in the country, and the fractures in Indian federalism. Caroline Duckworth, Devesh Kapur, and Milan Vaishnav, “Indo-Australian Voters and the 2022 General Election,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 18, 2022.Jonathan Kay, “A Heat Wave Has Pushed India's Dysfunctional Power System Into a Crisis,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 12, 2022.

The United States, India, France, and other major players all share interests in the Indian Ocean, making the region geopolitically important. While some of these countries developed policies that prioritized and engaged with the island nations that call the region home, the United States focused its priorities elsewhere. The recent security deal between China and the Solomon Islands only further demonstrates China's growing presence as the main competition for the United States in the region. President Biden's first trip to Asia since taking office starts tomorrow, and the stage is set for him to emphasize the United States' commitment to reprioritizing the region.  Darshana Baruah, a fellow in Carnegie's South Asia Program where she leads the Indian Ocean Initiative, joins Doug to unpack the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean region. Follow Doug on Twitter @DouglasLFarrar. Darshana M. Baruah. (2022, May 2). “The Strategic Importance of the Indian Ocean.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

On April 11, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from office, having suffered defeat in a dramatic no confidence vote in the national assembly. Soon after, Shehbaz Sharif—former chief minister of Punjab and brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif—was sworn into office as his replacement, capping a dizzying few weeks of political intrigue. To make sense of the latest developments in Pakistan, including what they mean for India, this week Milan is joined on the show by Aqil Shah. Aqil is the Wick Cary associate professor in the Department of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma and a visiting scholar in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Aqil is the author of The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan, one of the best guides to civil-military relations in Pakistan. Milan and Aqil discuss Imran Khan's dramatic fall from grace, the challenges facing the new government, and the country's complicated civil-military power balance. Plus, they talk about what these developments mean for India and Pakistan's frosty bilateral relationship. Aqil Shah, “The Shambolic End of Imran Khan,” Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2022.Aqil Shah, “Pakistan's ‘Moderate Taliban' Strategy Won't Hold Up—For Anyone,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, September 30, 2021.Aqil Shah, “Pakistan: Voting Under Military Tutelage,” Journal of Democracy 30, no. 1 (2019): 128-142. 

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sits down with Mr. Michael Kugelman, the Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Wilson Center, to discuss Pakistan's foreign policy as a rising power in the South Asian region.

Since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power, Pakistan continues to back them while not officially recognizing the Taliban government. Yet major issues have emerged between the two sides. The anti-Pakistan insurgency Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s rise to power and has stepped up violence against Pakistani security forces. On February 17, USIP held a discussion on the future of Pakistan’s relationship with the Afghan Taliban. Speakers Asfandyar Mir Senior Expert, South Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace Elizabeth Threlkeld Director, South Asia Program, Stimson Center Kamran Yousuf Journalist and Analyst, Express Tribune Ambassador Rick Olson, moderatorSenior Advisor, Asia Center, U.S. Institute of Peace For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.usip.org/events/between-ttp-and-durand-line

The China-India relationship remains strained as the year-and-a-half long standoff in eastern Ladakh continues. The border issue coupled with tensions over the COVID-19 outbreak pushed India to decouple from China, limiting Chinese investment in Indian tech companies and banning many of Beijing's most successful mobile applications. At the same time, India has renewed its commitment to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, bolstered its defense partnerships with Australia and Japan, and become more active in Indian Ocean maritime security. Can the two countries find common ground despite lingering tensions? And what do deteriorating China-India relations mean for the United States' approaches to the world's two most populous countries?During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Han Hua, Director of the Center for Arms Control and Disarmament at Peking University's School of International Studies, and Darshana Baruah, associate fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This panel is the first of the Carnegie Global Dialogue Series 2021-2022 and is also available to be watched online.

Uzair talks to Sameer Lalwani about the evolving situation in Afghanistan, prospects for peace following the U.S. withdrawal from the country, and the role regional powers are and can play in ensuring peace and stability in the country. Sameer Lalwani is a Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center where he researches nuclear deterrence, interstate rivalry, national security decision making, crisis behavior, and counter/insurgency. He is also a term member with the Council on Foreign Relations, a Contributing Editor to War on the Rocks, a non-resident fellow with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University (GWU), and a 2019 National Asia Research Program Fellow. His reading recommendations are: - Shaping Strategy by Risa Brooks - Inadvertent Escalation by Barry Posen - Pakistan A Hard Country by Anatol Lieven - Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias by Stephen Biddle

This week, Mike is joined by Darshana Baruah, associate fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean to the United States and our allies and partners in the region. Darshana provides historical context for the new focus on the Indo-Pacific, and dives into the politics of the Indian Ocean region. Mike and Darshana also tackle the rise of Chinese influence and how the Indian Ocean fits in with U.S.-China strategic competition. Overall, the two agree that there needs to be more focus in the United States on building a presence in the Indian Ocean, and in dealing with the Indian Ocean as a whole, rather than dividing it into geographical silos. 

Despite major challenges, India’s multicultural democracy has thrived for more than 70 years. But can it survive Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist agenda? Here to help us answer this question is Milan Vaishnav. Vaishnav is the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will withdraw remaining U.S. troops from the “forever war” in Afghanistan, declaring that the Sept. 11 attacks cannot justify American forces still being there 20 years after the deadliest terror assault on the United States. His plan is to pull out all American forces - numbering 2,500 now - by this Sept. 11, the anniversary of the attacks, which were coordinated from Afghanistan. The drawdown would begin rather than conclude by May 1, which has been the deadline for full withdrawal under a peace agreement the Trump administration reached with the Taliban last year. The decision marks perhaps the most significant foreign policy decision for Biden in the early going of his presidency. He’s long been skeptical about the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. As Barack Obama's vice president, Biden was a lonely voice in the administration who advised the 44th president to tilt towards a smaller counterterrorism role in the country while military advisers were urging a troop buildup to counter Taliban gains. Biden has also made clear he wants to recalibrate U.S. foreign policy to face bigger challenges posed by China and Russia. Withdrawing all U.S. troops comes with clear risks. It could boost the Taliban's effort to claw back power and undo gains toward democracy and women’s rights made over the past two decades. It also opens Biden to criticism, mostly Republicans and some Democrats, even though former President Donald Trump had also wanted a full withdrawal. While Biden’s decision keeps U.S. forces in Afghanistan four months longer than initially planned, it sets a firm end to two decades of war that killed more than 2,200 U.S. troops, wounded 20,000, and cost as much as $1 trillion.  Today on AirTalk, we’ll talk about what the troop withdrawal means for the future of U.S.-Afghan relations and for the U.S. presence and influence in the Middle East, and look back on what has happened in the two decades since American troops first landed in Afghanistan following 9/11. We reached out to the State Department to request that someone be made available, but they were not able to provide a representative for us at the time we requested. With files from the Associated Press With guest host Austin Cross Guests: James Schwemlein, senior director at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm, and a nonresident scholar in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; he is a former senior advisor to the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. State Department; he tweets @JamesSchwemlein Col. (ret.) Arnold V. Strong, retired U.S. Army colonel and public affairs officer, and former chief of Training and Operations Mentor at Kabul Military Training Center in Afghanistan from 2006-2007, where he trained members of the Afghan National Army; he currently serves as a senior partner at the Long Beach office Global Vantage Capital, a venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City; he tweets @arnoldvstrong

On April 6, USIP hosted a discussion that assessed the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Pakistani economy, explored the outlook for reforms, and surveyed how international investors, especially U.S. companies, view the Pakistani economy and investment prospects. Speakers: Khurram Husain Economic writer, Dawn Safiya Ghori-Ahmed Director, McLarty Associates Naila Naqvi CEO, Pie in the Sky Uzair Younus, moderator Visiting Senior Policy Analyst, South Asia Program, U.S. Institute of Peace   For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.usip.org/events/pakistans-post-pandemic-economic-outlook

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Milan Vaishnav about a report, How Do Indian Americans View India?, in which he and his co-authors (Sumitra Badrinathan and Devesh Kapur) conducted a survey about the political beliefs of Indian Americans. They discuss the results of the survey and talk about how the Indian American community might change in the future. Vaishnav is the director and senior fellow of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics (Yale University Press and HarperCollins India, 2017). His research focuses on Indian political economy, examining issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics and electoral behavior. Follow Shruti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/srajagopalan  Follow Milan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MilanV  For a transcript of this conversation and helpful links, visit DiscourseMagazine.com.

When India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a series of agricultural reforms last November, India’s farmers launched what might be the largest protest movement in modern history. An estimated 250 million Indians went on strike in solidarity, and today, tens of thousands of farmers are camped just outside the nation’s capital. Modi’s government has responded by silencing  journalists and detaining activists, raising troubling questions about the state of the world’s largest democracy. Then pop star Rihanna tweeted about the protests, causing an international incident, and all hell broke loose. In this episode, we talk with experts and journalists about India’s new agricultural reforms, why farmers don’t like it, and how platforms like Facebook and Twitter are playing a pivotal role in this conflict.     Guests: Ravi Agrawal, Editor in Chief of Foreign Policy Magazine Milan Vaishnav, Director of the South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and host of Grand Tamasha Pranav Dixit, Tech reporter for BuzzFeed News, based in New Delhi If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

How did the Indian-Americans vote in the 2020 Presidential Elections? Was the nomination of Kamala Harris a decisive factor? How different will India-US ties be in a Biden administration? How did the Narendra Modi administration in India handle the COVID-19 pandemic? What are some of the most grave challenges being confronted by the Indian democractic system? In this episode, we explore all these fascinating questions with one of the most well-reputed political economists of India – Dr. Milan Vaishnav, a Senior Fellow and the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. His primary research focuses on issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He is the author of the book "When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics" and is the host of the podcast "Grand Tamasha." Being an Indian-American himself, Dr. Vaishnav offers unique insights into the electoral behaviour of the Indian-Americans, a group that became visibly more important in the elections this year. We begin the interview with unpacking the Indian-American vote in the 2020 Elections. Dr. Vaishnav explains the results of the India-Americans Attitude Survey, a survey conducted by Dr. Vaishnav and his colleagues to understand the electoral behaviour and preferences of the India-American voters. The survey, one the only ones that focuses on the Indian-Ameican community, revealed that much like other voters, Indian-Americans care about basic domestic issues - economy and healthcare. At the same time, the state of India-US relations was an insignificant factor in determining their electoral choice. Countering the general perception of Indian-Americans being overwhelmingly supportive of Trump and the Republiucan Party, Dr. Vaishnav argues that the community is predominantly Democratic. He highlights that the Trump-Modi bonhomie did not cause a shift in the choices of the Indian-Americans. Talking about the state of the India-US ties, Dr. Vaishnav emphasized that under the Trump administration, the security and diplomatic cooperation between the two nations was tremendously expanded, while the economic cooperation remained stagnant. A Biden administration is expected to continue the growing security partnership, one that surely will be invigorated with the presence of an Indian-American Vice President. Dr. Vaishnav also delves deep into the successes of the Modi administration in handling the pandemic, amid growing concerns about the state of the Indian economy. He also sheds light on one of the most intriguing questions for Indian political economists: Why is Modi so popular despite widespread concerns over the Indian economy and its sovereignty? We hope that you enjoy listening to an interview about a country and a community that continues to fascinate and intrigue many. It is our hope that through these series of interviews, we continue to demystify India, Indian-Americans, and the 2020 Elections for our listeners!

We just witnessed the conclusion of two key elections – the United States Presidential race and Bihar State Assembly Elections closer to home. The results in both elections will have huge repercussions for India. The incoming US President has wide discretion in setting the tone of foreign policy and signals a dramatic shift from the past 4 years, the victor, whereas the NDA's victory in Bihar would come as a relief to PM Modi as he approaches the midway point of his second term. Join Abhishek and Rishika as they talk to Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, host of the Grand Tamasha podcast, political economy expert, and columnist at the Hindustan Times, as they discuss what a potential Biden presidency means for India, populism in Bihar and Washington, Indian American voter attitudes and whether Trump-ism is here to stay! Find Milan Vaishnav's work on his website, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Check out the YIF Election Tracker here: https://youngindia.foundation/election-calendar Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t0USnqdEucA Show Notes – Indian-American Voter Attitudes Survey: https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/10/14/how-will-indian-americans-vote-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-82929 U.S Government Branches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuFR5XBYLfU President Obama on Prime Minister Modi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzS9AWO2phE

This week, Veerle is joined by Darshana Baruah, Visiting Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo and non-resident scholar with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Dhruva Jaishankar, Director of the US Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi and Non-resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.  Together, they explore the view of the Indo-Pacific from New Delhi. Driven in part by an evolving foreign and security policy trajectory within India and a changing regional security environment, India is set to take on a stronger role within the Indian Ocean Region and seek opportunities to assist partners in other parts of the Indo-Pacific.  Darshana and Dhruva discuss traditional and non-traditional maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, the future of regional multilateral architecture, the role of small island states and middle powers, and new areas of cooperation and competition. The road ahead for UK-India cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, while promising, is not without its challenges. It will take political will on both sides to move this relationship forward.  

Originally published 4 November 2020 This week, Veerle is joined by Darshana Baruah, Visiting Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo and non-resident scholar with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Dhruva Jaishankar, Director of the US Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi and Non-resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. The idea of the Indo-Pacific as a theatre for influence and power is gaining prominence among governments and expert communities across the world.   A number of regional and global powers with interests in the region, as well as groupings like ASEAN, have presented their own unique interpretations of the Indo-Pacific as a strategic concept that connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans along with their littoral states as an integrated arena for competition and collaboration. 

The political landscape of South Asia has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Insurgencies that were raging across the subcontinent in the 1990s and early 2000s have largely been contained and the heavy-hand of the state has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence. Why has this happened and what exactly does it mean for South Asia’s future?To shed light on the surprising conflict dynamics in South Asia, this week Milan is joined by political scientist Paul Staniland, author of a recent Carnegie essay titled, “Political Violence in South Asia: The Triumph of the State?” Paul is an associate professor at the University of Chicago and nonresident scholar with the South Asia Program at Carnegie.Milan and Paul discuss intra-state conflict trends in the region, the massive rise in India’s internal security forces, the precarious state of liberal democracy in South Asia, and what South Asia can tell us about political violence in America.Episode notes:Paul Staniland, Adnan Naseemullah, and Ahsan Butt, “Pakistan’s Military Elite.”Paul Staniland, “Leftist Insurgencies in Democracies.”Paul Staniland, “4 Questions on India, Liberalism America, Etc.”Paul Staniland, “Trends in Insurgency in South Asia.”

Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses the effect of COVID-19 on the indian economy and political system.

Featured Interview: Aftermath of US-Taliban peace deal Guests: Elizabeth Threlkeld, Fellow and Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center Dr. Jonathan Schroden, Director, CNA's Special Operations Program

Cornell senior Charlie Accurso describes his experiences as a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellow, and the many opportunities he has been afforded as a speaker of many languages. FLAS Fellowships are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and help graduate and undergraduate students acquire high levels of competence in languages that are deemed critical to the national needs of the United States, and also to gain a fuller understanding of the areas, regions, or countries in which those languages are commonly used. At Cornell, FLAS fellowships are offered through the South Asia Program and the Southeast Asia Program. The following languages are offered: Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tamil, Modern Tibetan, Urdu (SAP) Burmese, Khmer, Indonesian/Malay, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai, Vietnamese (SEAP) Application deadline is Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at 4:30 pm. For more information, visit bit.ly/CornellFLAS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held his first rally in the U.S. when he was elected in 2014. Now, he’s coming back to appear in front of 50,000 people in Houston, Texas. The other person expected to take the stage is President Trump. So, what do the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies plan to gain from the visit? Guest: Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held his first rally in the U.S. when he was elected in 2014. Now, he’s coming back to appear in front of 50,000 people in Houston, Texas. The other person expected to take the stage is President Trump. So, what do the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies plan to gain from the visit? Guest: Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Quo Vadis the Quad? A Deterrence Alliance or Self-Deterred Alignment in Indo-Pacific?" featuring Sameer Lalwani (Senior Fellow for Asia Strategy and Director, South Asia Program, Stimson Center) in conversation with Bilal Baloch (CASI Postdoctoral Research Fellow, and Non-Resident Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University)

India has started its multi-phase, weeks long general elections that will determine the composition of the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament, and also the next prime minister. Results will be announced May 23. To make sense of the world’s largest exercise of democracy, today’s episode features a discussion led by Brookings Fellow , director of the , with three scholars, one each from the American Enterprise Institute, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Brookings India. The participants in the conversation are: , resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute , director and senior fellow, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , fellow, Brookings India Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

We speak with Daniel Bass, of Cornell’s South Asia Program, and host of WRFI’s Monsoon Radio, about music, cultures, and languages. For more information on Daniel's show, visit the links below: https://www.facebook.com/MonsoonRadioWRFI/ https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/show/monsoon-radio-w-daniel-bass-wrfi-community-radio  

Indian women are slowly changing the country's patriarchal political system, starting at the voting booth -- they now turn out to vote at a higher rate than men. What does that mean for next year's Indian general election? Jen talks to Carnegie expert Milan Vaishnav about women's growing political power in India. Milan Vaishnav is the director of Carnegie's South Asia Program. We want to hear from you! Write to us at diplopod@ceip.org, or call us at 202-939-2247. Leave us a voicemail and we might use your question on a future episode. You can also talk to us on Twitter using #DiploPod. And follow Jen on Twitter: twitter.com/JRPsaki Go Deeper: Read Milan's Q&A on women's voter turnout in India: http://carnegieendowment.org/p-77677 Read Milan's article on women's electoral trends in India: http://carnegieendowment.org/p-77689 More about Milan Vaishnav: http://carnegieendowment.org/experts/714 Follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/MilanV

In this podcast, RANE’s Founder David Lawrence sits down with Ronak Desai, an Affiliate of the India & South Asia Program at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Ronak is a recognized scholar in the fields of law and foreign policy.

Dr Frederic Grare, Carnegie’s South Asia Program – Non-Resident Senior Fellow

Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is the author of "When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics." Vaishnav dives into the interesting links between criminality, wealth and power found in Indian politics in this can't miss Global I.Q. Minute podcast.

The Subcontinental is a South Asian Voices (SAV) podcast on strategic issues in South Asia. SAV is an online policy platform featuring emerging South Asian analysts. It aims to foster free-flowing, critical debate on South Asia's security, economic, and political issues, with a special focus on nuclear matters. This special short podcast on The Subcontinental features discussion on the South Asian Voices Visiting Fellowship. Host Dr. Sameer Lalwani gives an overview of what the Fellowship entails. Then, SAV Editor, Akriti Vasudeva, interviews three of the four January 2017 SAV Visiting Fellows: Farhan Siddiqi, Pushan Das, and Mayuri Mukherjee. The month-long SAV Visiting Fellowship combines writing and research with exposure to the D.C. security community. Fellows meet with senior scholars at universities and think tanks along with leading practitioners working on South Asian security issues in the U.S. government. Research begun by Fellows during their month in D.C. culminates in a presentation in Washington, D.C. and a short co-authored report published by the Stimson Center. Fellows also contribute analysis to SAV during the Fellowship. Twice a year the SAV Editorial Team invites outstanding, regular SAV contributors to apply for a Visiting Fellowship with the Stimson Center's South Asia Program in Washington, D.C.

Deputy Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center Sameer Lalwani discusses how counterinsurgency and state-building efforts interact with issues of governance and economic development in South Asia.

Nicholas Burns is Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is Faculty Chair of the school’s Middle East Initiative, India & South Asia Program, and is director of the Future of Diplomacy Project. He writes a bi-weekly foreign affairs column for the Boston Globe and is a senior foreign affairs columnist for GlobalPost. He is also Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and a Senior Counselor at the Cohen Group. He served in the US Foreign Service for twenty-seven years, during which time he was appointed Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador to NATO, Ambassador to Greece, and State Department Spokesman. He worked on the National Security Council staff as Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Affairs and Special Assistant to President Clinton and Director for Soviet Affairs for President George H.W. Bush.

A talk by political scientist Gilles Dorronsoro, visiting scholar in the Carnegie Endowment's South Asia Program. His research focuses on security and political development in Afghanistan, particularly the role of the International Security Assistance Force, the steps required to achieve a viable government in Kabul, and the conditions necessary for withdrawal scenarios. From the World Beyond the Headlines lecture series. Cosponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the South Asian Language & Area Center, and the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies.