The Taliban's Rise & Regional Power Dynamics
Dear Reader,
I hope you are doing well. This was an exciting week at Takshashila, with lots of interesting discussions and publications.
The Takshashila Conference
Over the weekend, we held the first Takshashila Conference for the current cohort of students in our Graduate Certificate in Public Policy programme. The two-day conference brought together eminent speakers from diverse domains who shared their insights on current issues of public policy, covering topics from foreign policy and technology to nutrition and policing.
Keeping up with our credo of continuous innovation, we experimented with a unique format of combining the usual Zoom/Webex session with a virtual campus experience. The conference provided the perfect segue into the specialisation segment of the course.
The thread below offers a glimpse into the different sessions that were held during the conference.
The Taliban & Regional Power Dynamics
In a new discussion document, Shrey Khanna analyses the impact of the Taliban victory’s in Afghanistan on the regional geopolitical dynamics and the interests of major regional powers.
During the insurgency phase, most regional powers had maintained differential support to the Taliban to facilitate a common objective of the US withdrawal. However, the factional rivalries in a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan make it likely that the interests of regional powers would start diverging significantly. This report also examines India’s interests in the region – the impact of Taliban victory on the Islamist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi’s access and influence in Central Asia – which are likely to face challenges in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Keeping this in mind, this paper argues the following:
India should cultivate a working relationship with the nationalist sections of the Taliban to take advantage of Islamabad’s growing inability to dominate Afghanistan.
India must continue to invest in counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation capabilities to offset the Jihadi threat to Jammu and Kashmir.
A close partnership with Tehran would allow New Delhi to utilise the Iranian influence in the Taliban to contain the influence of pro-ISI Taliban groups and regain its trade access to Afghanistan.
New Delhi must use all the tools available to encourage China to ensure political stability in Afghanistan.
India must act to strengthen and expand its role of being a maritime security provider in the northern Indo-Pacific.
Making Sense of The Facebook Files
The Facebook Files refers to a series of recent reports by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that reveal various findings from Facebook’s internal research. These internal documents show that Facebook was aware of the harms it was causing to teenagers, a free society, and human rights but did little to correct them. In his newsletter, MisDisMal-Information, Prateek Waghre analyses the significance of the findings from an Indian perspective and touched upon themes that have not received enough attention. He writes:
Facebook can simultaneously be spending way more than competitors on enforcing its policies and research, have researchers who have a better understanding of its effects than anyone outside the company - and still, still, not have a deep enough understanding or focus their efforts at the wrong level.
What Does India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem need?
Talks have accelerated between India and Taiwan to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing unit in the country. Reports have indicated that officials from both sides have met regularly to discuss the possible outcomes of Taiwan investing in a fabrication facility in India. This is an important development given that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the leading manufacturer of semiconductors in the world. In an article in News18, Arjun Gargeyas and Pranay Kotasthane provide a brief history of India’s attempts to build indigenous semiconductor manufacturing facilities:
The Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), which was set up by the Indian government at Mohali, was the state’s attempt to create India’s own TSMC. SCL had the investment and the state support but a major fire in 1989 derailed its progress and it could not recover its large-scale capacity since. However, SCL is still involved in good research work but at a really low volume and specifically for space projects. Similar attempts were made with AMD’s ‘FabCity’ project in 2006 with an investment of $3 billion which succumbed to bad industry conditions.
The most recent attempt was when two investor groups (one with Jaypee Group and Israel’s TowerJazz and the other with HSMC and Europe’s STMicroelectronics) made separate proposals worth $10 billion, both of which were accepted by the government in 2014 but both eventually failed to achieve the desired outcome.
The authors then identify the deep-rooted issues that have caused repeated failures that the state must address in order to make indigenous semiconductor manufacturing a reality. Read the full article to find out what these issues are and how to fix them.
On the topic of semiconductors, also check out The Quad Makes the First Siliconpolitik Move, Pranay’s recent paper for the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies. An earlier paper by Pranay made a detailed case for a Quad partnership on semiconductors. It argued that the Quad’s technology cooperation agenda should focus on semiconductors due to their ‘metacriticality’. Further, it reasoned that “since each Quad member enjoys a comparative advantage in a specific sub-domain of the semiconductor supply chain, this grouping is well-placed to collaborate.” With these arguments as a reference point, this paper analyses the semiconductor supply chain collaboration announcement at the first in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit.
What’s China doing in Africa?
Infrastructure projects and technology investments under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have led to a sustained expansion of China’s stake and presence across Africa. What is the aim of this engagement? Is there a larger power struggle between the West and China? In the October 11 episode of All Things Policy, Arjun Gargeyas spoke to Ameera Rao about the possible implications of Chinese investments and influence in Africa.
Evidence-Based Policy Making For COVID-19
We are pleased to introduce our brand new short credit course on evidence-based policymaking for responding to COVID-19. The course, comprising four webinars over two weekends, will introduce participants to the various public policy aspects of managing recurring COVID-19 waves. Topics will include the role of the government, tackling misinformation, ethical decision-making during a pandemic, and the adoption of emerging technologies to fight the pandemic. This course is suitable for students, practitioners, and policy professionals.
The course will include activity-based sessions, wherein participants will be expected to work across teams to solve contemporary questions arising through the pandemic. Participants will be provided with frameworks and tools to analyse policy problems and recommend solutions. Participants will be graded on the basis of a final team presentation that will involve creating recommendations for tackling a particular problem that is expected to recur in potential future waves of COVID-19.
Programme begins on 23 October. Apply by 21 October.
Send your queries to gcbt@takshashila.org.in
What We Have Been Reading
The last book we recommended was India Versus China: Why They Are Not Friends. I hope you have been enjoying reading it. This week’s book, recommended by Aditya Pareek, is Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations: Third Edition by Wayne P. Hughes Jr. In Aditya’s words:
If you have ever wondered if a crash course in becoming a Naval nerd/Sea combat enthusiast exists then look no further than Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations: Third Edition by Wayne P. Hughes Jr.
The book is a very easy to follow layman-friendly history of Naval combat from Napoleonic times with sail ships and broadside canons to modern day high-tech guided missiles and carrier borne stealth fighter aircraft. It has been a staple of many reading lists in naval academies around the world and has been recommended by Chiefs of Staff of many military services, belonging to western and eastern nations alike.I would urge the prospective reader to not skip the preface of the book either since although it has been celebrated as a textbook, the book is the culmination of the author’s lifelong fondness for his subject. There is a subtle personal story in there between the lines behind all the high octane naval history and combat at sea.
Get reading!
That’s it from us this week.
Take care and stay safe!