Commodore S.L. Deshmukh

By dropping “Indo” from its Pacific command, Washington has reignited questions about India’s place in American strategy. The Pentagon’s decision to restore the historic title of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) by replacing the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), may appear at first glance to be little more than bureaucratic housekeeping. Officially, Washington insists that the command’s responsibilities, operational boundaries and strategic priorities remain unchanged. But in...

Ethnic violence in India’s troubled frontier is not just a law-and-order problem but the culmination of history and political failure. For more than three years, Manipur has remained trapped in a cycle of violence that has scarred communities, displaced tens of thousands and exposed the limits of the Indian state’s ability to manage ethnic conflict. The turmoil is the product of historical grievances and competing identities that have gradually transformed social tensions into open conflict....

The South China Sea has become the testing ground for the future of global trade and the balance of power in Asia. For centuries, great powers have understood a simple truth that whoever controls the seas shapes the destiny of nations. In the twenty-first century, that proposition has acquired renewed urgency in the waters of the South China Sea, a vast maritime crossroads through which the arteries of global commerce flow. It has emerged as one of the world’s most consequential geopolitical...