A humbled Modi returns to power — What lies ahead

Written by Manali Kumar and Chetan Rana

After a decade of sliding towards authoritarianism, a return to coalition politics promises a path to redemocratisation. Without a clear majority, the BJP can no longer bypass parliamentary scrutiny.

South Asia9DLJune 21, 20249dashline, Manali Kumar, Chetan Rana, Narendra Modi, third consecutive term, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India, BJP, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Modi’s rise to power, Congress-led UPA government, over 400 seats, 240 seats, 272-seat majority, INDIA, opposition alliance, gaining over 100 seats, world’s fifth-largest economy, 200 billionaires, 250 million people out of poverty, zero-food children, economic hardships, strong GDP growth, COVID-19, Mid-Day Meals, Integrated Child Development Services, welfare spending, LPG usage, pen defecation reduction, public goods, teacher-to-student ratio, literacy and maths skills, National Education Policy 2020, Changes to school textbooks, Darwin’s theory of evolution, infrastructure spending, over USD 130 billion, Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Foreign direct investment, India's education system, gig jobs, low-paying employment, BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda, hate speech against Muslims, Andhra Pradesh, NDA allies, 2002 riots, 2004 election defeat, special status to Andhra Pradesh, 2025 Bihar assembly elections, Bihar, council of ministers, Union Minister, Lok Sabha, Nitish Kumar, caste, Chief Minister, nationwide caste census, new welfarism, Agniveer scheme, short-term defence personnel induction program, armed services, Uniform Civil Code, national identity, Hindu majority, narrative of victimhood, Modi’s guarantee, NDA government, NDA, unemployment, stagnant wages, manufacturing sector, corruption, lowest GDP growth since liberalisation, Dr. Manmohan Singh, authoritarianism, coalition politics, a path to redemocratisation, parliamentary scrutiny, A humbled Modi returns to power — What lies ahead

Beijing’s Taiwan policy after the island’s elections

Written by Dr Lin Gang

Despite the developmental gap between the two societies, Beijing believes its preferential policies towards newcomers from Taiwan, particularly the youth, are appealing and productive.

East Asia, Power Politics9DLMarch 15, 2024Beijing’s Taiwan policy after the island’s elections, 9DASHLINE, Dr. Lin Gang, Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, Democratic Progressive Party, Kuomintang, KMT, Hou Yu-ih, Taiwan People’s Party, Ko Wen-je, TPP, Beijing, Anti-Secession Law, Taiwan Strait, COVID-19

Australia-China relations: Where to now?

Written by Elena Collinson

After seven years marked by bullying and heavy-handed tactics by Beijing, episodes of diplomatic inelegance by Canberra, and the asperity of mutual criticism, Australia-China relations have tentatively shifted to a more normalised state.

Inconvenient truth — Young and unemployed in China

Written by Anand P. Krishnan

Clearly, unemployment captures the anxieties and disillusionment of youth on both sides of the Himalayan Gap. By the same count, there are no easy solutions for either government to manage, if not completely resolve, this crisis.

Emerging Issues9DLDecember 11, 2023Inconvenient truth — Young and unemployed in China, Anand P. Krishnan, China, PRC, Beijing, A4 protests, White Paper Protests, urban protests, zero-COVID policy, post-pandemic recovery, pandemic, COVID-19, real estate sector, US restrictions, technology transfer, Chinese entities, tech sector, investor confidence, Communist Party of China, CPC, India, unemployment, unemployment statistics, National Bureau of Statistics, employment crisis, Chinese leadership, economic data, university graduates, lower-paid work, remote areas, private sector, massive layoffs, hiring quotas, Chinese graduates, foreign universities, students, education abroad, university education, employers, employment market, job market, graduates, education, manufacturing, service sectors, blue-collar workforce, livestream sales, ride-hailing services, flexible employment, popular narrative, economic downturn, fiscal reforms, raising wages, social protection, pensions, medical insurance, higher welfare spending, Common Prosperity, Xi Jinping, welfarism, New Deal, human capital, disillusionment, involution, neijuan, tang ping, ‘Lying Flat’, ‘Let it Rot’, bai lan, hypercompetitive culture, culture of overwork, protests, economic transition, pro-market reforms, globalisation, socio-economic challenge, state-society relations, policymakers, balour, youth, young people, young graduates, 9DASHLINE

In Conversation with Vincent Brussee

9DASHLINE recently had the pleasure of speaking with Vincent Brussee about his new book Social Credit: The Warring States of China’s Emerging Data Empire.

This book offers one of the first comprehensive assessments of the People’s Republic of China’s infamous ‘Social Credit System’.

Australia reaches out to Southeast Asia through development and economic partnerships

Written by Melissa Conley Tyler

Whether it is helping link civil society organisations or stimulating Australian business to wake up to opportunities in the region, the Australian government will need to engage many tools of statecraft to achieve its strategic goal of deep partnerships with Southeast Asia.

China’s uncertain future as a global security provider

Written by Lukas Fiala

The key question is whether Xi’s growing assertiveness and inadequacy of existing means to ensure the security of Chinese entities abroad will lead to a more pronounced security footprint over the coming decade, featuring new military base arrangements and, potentially, institutionalised security guarantees.

Faultlines9DLAugust 11, 2023China’s uncertain future as a global security provider, Lukas Fiala, 9DashLine, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Beijing, Global South, security, mediator, Riyadh, Tehran, Middle East, Washington, diplomacy, isolation, COVID-19, pandemic, United States, China’s overseas security strategy, strategy, foreign policy, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping, mediation, peace and security, peace broker, non-state actors, intrastate conflicts, statist approach, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, security and defence cooperation, Hu Jintao, United Nations peacekeeping (UNPK) missions, South Sudan, Mali, Africa, Latin America, multilateral, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), military base in Djibouti, Global Security Initiative (GSI), security actor, US-led global security order, global security governance, UN Charter, indivisible security, sovereignty, 1975 Helsinki Accords, Vladimir Putin, NATO expansion, NATO, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western imperialism, imperial history, Western colonial powers, century of national humiliation, Soviet Union, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Western hegemony, principle of non-interference, non-aligned movement, Cold War, non-intervention, 干涉, 干预, security provider, Sudan, Libya, ‘Go Out Strategy’ (走出去战略), Chinese state-owned enterprises, natural resources, raw materials, multilateral lenders, development finance, human rights, good governance, 2008 Beijing Olympics, al-Bashir regime, African Union, Darfur, Libyan civil war, People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA), Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, Chinese interests, power projection, security-development nexus, liberal peace, developmental peace, Ethiopia, civil war, Pakistan, South Asia, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamic extremism, Islamabad, sovereign lender, arbiter, Abiy Ahmed, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Saudi-Iran rapprochement, Iraq, Afghanistan, global war on terror, piracy, Gulf of Aden, 9dashline

Gendered insecurities and gender-responsive security sector reform in the Indo-Pacific

Written by Dr Phyu Phyu Oo

Gender-responsive security sector reform shows promise in recognising the security threats to women and marginalised individuals, and working towards ending such violence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Editor's Picks9DLJune 20, 20239dashline, Gendered insecurities and gender-responsive security sector reform in the Indo-Pacific, PHYU PHYU OO, gender-based violence, sexual and gender-based violence, SGBV, human rights violations, gender-based vulnerabilities, man-made conflicts, natural disasters, pandemics, Indo-Pacific, COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 lockdowns, myanmar, Myanmar military coup, women peacebuilders, human rights defenders, gender-based harm, Pacific Islands, gender-based discrimination, structural issue, gender inequalities, LGBTQI+, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, minority ethnic populations, The Philippines, Myanmar, China, sexual humiliation, Sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, social protection support systems, gendered threats, harmful societal gender norms, societal gender norms, Indo-Pacific countries, structural state failures, state-based solutions, national security actors, gender-responsive security sector reform, security sector reform, SSR, gender-sensitive training, political instability, thailand, post-conflict state building, Solomon Islands, Australian Defence Force, gender-responsive practices, gender-sensitive practices, marginalised individuals, security needs, domestic security sector reform

A law to rein in tech firms: the US is restricting China by emulating it

Written by Wendy Chang and Antonia Hmaidi

By expanding the definition of national security to address the newly antagonistic world that China and the US perceive themselves in, both countries seem ready to accept the fragmentation of their ever-more digital economies and societies as inevitable.

Faultlines, Power Politics9DLJune 16, 20239DashLine, Wendy Chang, Antonia Hmaidi, A law to rein in tech firms: the US is restricting China by emulating it, United States, China, RESTRICT Act, Beijing, national security, tech, technology competition, Washington, arbitrary power, weaponised trade, weaponised interdependence, weaponised legislation, TikTok, foreign adversaries, National Security, rules-based international order, global trade, Congress, President Joe Biden, Cub, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, North Korea, Secretary of Commerce, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Didi, cybersecurity, weaponisation of security laws, Cyberspace Administration of China, National Security Law, Measures for Cybersecurity Review, Cybersecurity Law, Micron, data security, chip exports, export control, chip-makers, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, authoritarian countries, Department of Commerce, user data, tech companies, lobbying, Patriot Act for the Digital Age, spying, internet freedom, Data Security Law, Huawei, 5G mobile networks, geo-economics, economic security, technological security, protectionism, World Trade Organisation, tariffs, Inflation Reduction Act, clean energy, electric vehicles, unfair competition, CHIPS and Science Act, semiconductors, semiconductor supply chains, semiconductor equipment, chip-manufacturing, R&D, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, technological superiority, industrial policy, free trade, great power competition, COVID-19, supply-chain disruptions, war in Ukraine, subsidies, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, China’s rise, open and free internet

Forging a G7-G20 nexus: Cooperation between Japan and India

Written by Dr Kei Koga and Dr Karthik Nachiappan

Rather than focusing on divergences between Japan and India or between the G7 and the G20, the areas of convergence (such as energy and food security, inflation, and climate) should be turned into functional linkages.

Power Politics9DLMay 15, 20239DashLine, Forging a G7-G20 nexus: cooperation between Japan and India, Kei Koga, Karthik Nachiappan, G7, G20, India, Japan, Japan's G7 presidency, India's G20 presidency, Tokyo, Delhi, Multilateralism, G7 summit in Hiroshima, G20 summit in Delhi, international order based on the rule of law, international order, China, Japan-India relations, Beijing, US, Cold War, East China Sea, geopolitics, territorial integrity, Ladakh, nuclear non-proliferation, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia's war, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Hiroshima, Russia’s nuclear threat, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, international financial institutions, development cooperation, maritime security, peacekeeping, protectionism, inflationary trends, Big Tech, decoupling, India Stack, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Google, Meta, Amazon, COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine war, Global South, non-aligned movement (NAM), debt relief, food security, energy security, climate change, pandemic recovery, post-pandemic recovery, climate transition, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), climate adaptation, supply chain, decarbonisation, COP27, inflation

Reflecting on Ardern: Don't confuse going slow with no change

Written by Dr Lucas Knotter

Now that Ardern has been replaced by Chris Hipkins as Aotearoa prime minister, it is unclear whether New Zealand’s foreign policy will change substantially.

Power Politics9DLMarch 28, 20239DashLine, Lucas Knotter, Reflecting on Ardern: confusing slow with no change, New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, 2020 New Zealand parliamentary elections, Jacinda Ardern’s premiership, Aotearoa, Aotearoa politics, general election in October 2023, radical incrementalism, NZ Labour Party, February 2022 Parliament Lawn protest, COVID-19, COVID-19 restrictions, anti-government sentiment, right-wing MPs, female prime minister, feminism, sexism, misogyny, New Zealand National Party, water management centralisation, New Zealand's international status, small state, minor power, Nicholas Ross Smith, Aotearoa’s ‘soft power’, soft power, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Vogue, celebrity, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, New Zealand’s foreign policy, US, China, alignment, middle ground, Indo-Pacific, Aotearoa’s ‘constructive ambiguity’, interlocutor, Pacific Islands, indigenous foreign policy, Anna Powles, Solomons-China security agreement, Chris Hipkins, Managed Isolation and Quarantine, crime, inequality, wealth disparities, climate policy, Emissions Reduction Plan, National Adaptation Plan, Max Rashbrooke, Helen Clark, John Key, both-sidesing, Zero Carbon Act, United Kingdom, United Nations, Reflecting on Ardern: Don't confuse going slow with no change

Thailand’s upcoming general election: A preview

Written by Ken Mathis Lohatepanont

The blurring of the lines between the government and the opposition means that voters may very well end up with a government that straddles Thailand’s traditional divides.

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The very consequential presidency of Joe Biden

Written by Dr Richard Johnson

Whatever happens in the remaining two years of the first Biden term, the octogenarian president can already feel confident that he has left a major legacy and will be recorded as a very consequential president.

Power Politics9DLMarch 9, 20239dashline, The very consequential presidency of Joe Biden, Richard Johnson, Joe Biden, US President Joe Biden, President Joe Biden, Franklin Roosevelt, United States, crisis, polycrisis, COVID-19, pandemic, democracy, security, American Rescue Plan Act, COVID stimulus bill, US Congress, America, US Senate, federal spending, welfare state, Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure and Jobs Act, business grants, funding for state and local government, healthcare, public transport infrastructure, digital security projects, climate-related spending, Affordable Care Act, New Deal, FDR, legislation, filibuster, budget reconciliation, polarisation, reconciliation, legislative priorities, policing, immigration, voting rights, gun control bill, congressional legislation, same-sex marriage legislation, Defense Of Marriage Act, DOMA, Obergefell v. Hodges, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Stephen Breyer, House of Representatives, US midterms, administrative state, executive orders, Controlled Substances Act, US domestic policy agenda

Normative power Taiwan? Human rights and Taiwan-EU relations

Written by Marcin Jerzewski

In the context of Taiwan-EU relations, the primary objective of cooperation on human rights should be to address the main areas of concern delineated by the EU.

Taiwan: A partner for a resilient Indo-Pacific

Written by Dr Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy

With the Taiwan Strait as a potential military flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific, embedding Taiwan in regional cooperation frameworks will support the efforts of like-minded democracies to deter Beijing’s destabilising actions which are affecting the entire region.

East Asia9DLFebruary 9, 20239dashline, Taiwan: a partner for a resilient Indo-Pacific, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Taiwan, Indo-Pacific, resilience, Taiwan strait, regional cooperation frameworks, China, Beijing, dialogue partner, destabilising actions, minilateral frameworks, diplomatic isolation, Taipei, revisionist posture, US-China geostrategic rivalry, minilateral cooperation, multilateralism, Quadrilateral Dialogue, Quad, Xi Jinping, Nancy Pelosi, semiconductors, bilateral ties, US, Washington, economic coercion, disinformation, global expansion, grey zone activities, Audrey Tang, COVID-19, infodemic, transparency, international cooperation, Russia, Russia-Ukraine war, national resilience, emergency preparedness, resource deployment capabilities, ASEAN, Nobuo Kishi, Australia-Taiwan partnership, Jenny Bloomfield, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, SCRI, Artificial Intelligence, AI, Global Cooperation and Training Framework, GCTF, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, CPTPP, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, JTEA

In Dialogue: India's presence in the Indo-Pacific

Written by Sankaran Krishna and Aditi Malhotra

If the other members of the Quad harden their stance against the Chinese, India will find it increasingly difficult to continue its balancing act of being part of a group hostile to the very country on which its own economic survival depends.

Techno-nationalism: A key driver behind China’s geostrategic ambitions

Written by Dibakar De

Thousands of people from around the world have already clustered in China to fill positions related to technological research, raising the nation’s status as a top destination for high-end activities and adding to the growing national pride.

Taiwan's midterm elections are about more than geopolitics

Written by Brian Hioe

Local midterm elections are more often about domestic issues than international, cross-strait ones, and it would be misleading to view Taiwanese politics solely through the frame of cross-strait issues.