A Dark Sky Above India’s Geopolitical Card-Dealing?
In March 2011, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) designated Alberta’s expansive 11, 228 square kilometres-spanning Jasper National Park a Dark Sky Preserve (DSP). And in doing so, made the Park the world’s second largest DSP.
As the classification may suggest, a DSP denotes a protected area where minimal artificial light is visible and where concerted efforts are made to reduce light pollution. The Park in Jasper is one of 17 such DSPs in Canada and is considered a part of UNESCO's Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.
Investments made by the municipality of Jasper to maintain the dark, while making the space accessible to the public, span everything from “installing streetlights that point downwards and have a softer glow than regular light”, designating 97% of the park as wilderness area and establishing observation sites for visitors to easily view the sky. These efforts, inter alia, have resulted in what the RASC has denoted a “nighttime sky quality level of approximately 21.4 mag/arcsec2 overall”. In non-astronomy terms: pretty darn dark.
Visitors to this near hallowed ground may arrive with an expectation to merely stargaze, but can also witness the famed Northern Lights and participate in programming organised by the Jasper Planetarium and come October, will also have the opportunity to hear the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra perform in the Park as part of Jasper’s annual Dark Sky Festival.
Much like the Jasper National Park offers its visitors a range of ways to meaningfully engage with the startling sky above, in his recent column, Takshashila Co-founder and Director, Nitin Pai, presents a range of options that India could avail of, following U.S. President Trump's recent encounter with Ukrainian President Zelensky, that could shift geopolitical winds.
In keeping with President Trump’s card analogy during this terse exchange, Nitin has astutely drawn up 13 cards in India’s suit (including a joker) that could be played, but offers the following caution as he does so:
Some of these cards might appear cynical, some naive and some unrealistic. They probably are. Even so, the test of leverage is the extent to which playing them will create pleasure or the absence of it in Trump’s mind. The strength of these cards depends on policies and actions that India undertakes to make them effective. This calls for, well, duplicity.
For a more fulsome read of Nitin’s analysis, follow this link.
Oval Office Odyssey - Amit’s Take…
In keeping with the same thread of conversation, what does the recent meeting between U.S. President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky say of the current international order?
For a thoughtful response to this question (and more), listen to a recent video interview hosted by StratNewsGlobal where Takshashila Indo-Pacific Studies Staff Research Analyst, Amit Kumar weighs in on this discussion alongside Pankaj Saran, former Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation.
To listen to the full interview, including Amit’s views on a possible return to equilibrium click here.
An Academic Conference: Network for Advanced Study of Pakistan 2025 Edition!
Takshashila recently hosted the Academic Conference for the 2025 Network for Advanced Study of Pakistan (NASP). As part of the convening, NASP Fellows, mentors and subject matter experts gathered to discuss research on all things Pakistan politics, economy and defence.
Draft conference papers presented at the Conference centered around themes ranging from national security and foreign policy; to ethno-nationalism, identity, and subnational politics.
To take a closer look at the event’s highlights, follow this link.
Populists Making Populist Policy? All Things Policy Episode of the Week!
This week’s All Things Policy episode of the week focuses on populism and its impact on foreign policy. Do populists make populist foreign policy?
Join Takshashila Communications Manager, Wini Gurung, and Rishabh Yadav, PhD Scholar, MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, to unpack the complexity embedded in the above question.
Listen in at the link provided here.
Takshashila Tabletop Trove!
Welcome back to the Tabletop Trove of Dispatch! As you may well know, this section is intended to be a virtual repository of the books that sit at a high-table located in Takshashila’s physical office space in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
This week’s theme is ominously titled: All That is Divine.
When The Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach (Ashlee Vance)
The Indian Spirit: The Untold Story of Alcohol in India (Magandeep Singh)
The God Equation: The Quest for A Theory of Everything (Michio Kaku)
The Enlightenment: A Graphic Guide (Lloyd Spencer & Andrzej Krauze)
This edition of the Dispatch was written by Kripa Koshy, Programme Manager for Takshashila’s Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy.