US - Insights - April 2024

India-US Relations

Not sending any election observers to India: US

US won't send election observers to India. Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department said that the US doesn't for advanced democracies like India. 2024 Lok Sabha polls commence. World leaders, including PM Modi, may help in conflicts like deterring Russian aggression and defeating Hamas. Click here to read… [2]

India, US regularly consult on democracy, human rights issues: Official

"The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues," Robert S Gilchrist, senior official from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, told reporters after the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was release by Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Click here to read… [3]

Two elections and what they might mean for India, China and US ties

Modi established a strong relationship with Trump during his first presidency. Both men have strong nationalistic credentials, possess larger-than-life personas, and focus on immigration policies. If both Trump and Modi ascend to power, India-US ties are likely to be stronger than ever. Click here to read… [4]

Kwatra meets key US officials, reviews progress of strategic partnership

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has met several US senior officials, including Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks, to undertake a detailed review of the progress on further consolidating the bilateral strategic ties and discussed their shared efforts to promote stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region. During his visit from April 10 to 12, Kwatra undertook a detailed review of the progress made towards further consolidating the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Click here to read… [5]

US-India ties: US recognises India as ‘strategic partner’ and ‘world’s largest democracy'

India is the world's largest democracy, said the US Department of State Spokesperson, Matthew Miller while reaffirming America's relations with the country and calling it an important “strategic partner" of the United States. Click here to read… [6]

Geopolitics & Foreign Policy

Biden’s ‘Coalitions of the Willing’ Foreign-Policy Doctrine

Minilateralism refers to a form of international collaboration that involves smaller, more targeted groupings of countries with shared interests, rather than large and often slow-moving traditional multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO). This is precisely the approach the Biden administration has pursued, and it represents the starkest sign yet of how the post-Cold War global order is fracturing. Click here to read… [7]

America’s China Strategy Has a Credibility Problem

In future crises or conflicts in U.S.-Chinese relations, the economic dimension will be critical. Yet Beijing currently has good reason to doubt the credibility of Washington’s sanctions threats. This is because the United States’s response has been muted in the face of recent Chinese provocations, including Beijing’s efforts to erode democracy in Hong Kong, the dispatching of a spy balloon over the United States, and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Click here to read… [8]

Senate Passes $95 Billion Package to Help Ukraine and Israel

The Senate passed a long-delayed $95.3 billion foreign-aid package sending much-needed ammunition and military equipment to beleaguered Ukrainian soldiers and fortifying Israel’s missile defense systems, while also forcing the sale of Chinese-controlled TikTok in the U.S. Click here to read… [9]

Blinken spars with China on Russia support, industrial overcapacity

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he pressed China over its support for Russia's military-industrial base, as he held "candid" talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. The Chinese side, for its part, complained that the U.S. was "hyping up" concerns about its industrial capacity and "constantly" challenging its core interests. Click here to read… [10]

U.S. Senate passes TikTok sell-or-ban bill, sends it to Biden

The Senate passed legislation that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that is expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the short-form video app for income. Click here to read… [11]

U.S. 'nonlethal' aid for Myanmar's ethnic armies likely to backfire

The U.S. cannot bet on the collapse of the military regime, which continues to control major population centers. Yet it has held back from offering military assistance to the resistance, especially after Washington's unproductive experience in Syria's civil war. But the terms on which Washington is offering nonlethal aid in Myanmar risk creating the outcome it has been seeking to avoid. Click here to read… [12]

How China could respond to US sanctions in a Taiwan crisis

Beijing has watched carefully as Western allies have deployed unprecedented economic statecraft against Russia over the past two years. The report examines China’s ability to address potential US and broader G7 sanctions, focusing on its possible retaliatory measures and its means of sanctions circumvention. It is found that reciprocal economic statecraft measures would exact a heavy financial toll on the G7, China itself, and the global economy. Crucially, however, it is also found that China is developing capacities that are making its economy more resilient to Western sanctions. Click here to read… [13]

U.S. law firm Mayer Brown prepares split from Chinese operations

American law firm Mayer Brown is set to carve out its Hong Kong operation amid U.S.-China tensions and an economic downturn on the mainland, a move that will make it the second high-profile legal company to leave the market in recent months. Click here to read… [14]

The U.S. Military Is Getting Kicked Out of Niger

The U.S. withdrawal from Niger has been seen as part of a broader trend playing out across the region, where military regimes have ousted Western troops while welcoming in Russian forces that analysts fear will fuel spiraling insecurity in the region. Click here to read… [15]

US Elections & Internal Dynamics

How Trump’s Courtroom Calendar Collides With His Campaign Calendar

Never before has a candidate pursued the presidency while facing criminal charges. Former President and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump faces 85 of them, as well as civil claims. The Republican front-runner must navigate court hearings amid dozens of state primaries. Click here to read… [16]

Biden Weighs Giving Legal Status to Immigrant Spouses of U.S. Citizens

The idea has gained currency inside the White House since last summer, despite the fraught nature of immigration politics heading into the 2024 presidential election. There is a growing recognition among Biden’s top political advisers that the president could benefit from taking a positive step on immigration to contrast with his tough talk on the issue, and with an expected executive order aiming to sharply curb illegal crossings at the southern border. Click here to read… [17]

The Struggle for the Soul of the GOP

On April 20, House Republican leadership facilitated passage of a foreign-aid package that sends roughly $60 billion to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel and Gaza, $8 billion to Taiwan, and exactly zero dollars to the southern border. The bill has since passed the Democrat-led Senate and was signed by President Joe Biden. The vote will be remembered for the choice Republican leadership made to brazenly reject its own voters in favor of the “uniparty” in Washington, D.C. Click here to read… [18]

Inflation Is Stubborn. Is the Federal Budget Deficit Making It Worse?

A crucial question is hanging over the American economy and the fall presidential election: Why are consumer prices still growing uncomfortably fast, even after a sustained campaign by the Federal Reserve to slow the economy by raising interest rates Click here to read… [19]

Senate Passes Spying Bill, Rejecting Privacy Concerns

The Senate passed legislation renewing a controversial foreign spying power, prevailing over objections from privacy advocates who warned the measure could lead to a dramatic expansion of government surveillance on Americans. Click here to read… [20]

‘Squad’ Member Summer Lee Faces Primary Challenge Over Criticism of Israel

Two years ago, some Jewish voters here decided to back progressive Democrat Summer Lee for Congress, despite misgivings about her views on Israel. Lee now faces a serious challenge in Democratic primary, because a sizable bloc of those voters have changed their minds. Click here to read… [21]

College Democrats Back Protests and Criticize Biden’s Israel Policy

College Democrats of America, the student organization of the Democratic Party, endorsed pro-Palestinian campus protests and called on President Biden to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Click here to read… [22]

U.S. colleges suspend pro-Palestinian protesting students as police make arrests

Colleges around the U.S. implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out tent encampments with rising levels of urgency on April 29 as police arrested more demonstrators at the University of Texas and Columbia University said it was beginning to suspend students who defied an ultimatum to disband the encampment there. Click here to read… [23]