US- Insights - May 2024

India-US Relations

How India-US relations could change after the 2024 elections

This year the US and India are both holding national elections, the outcomes of which will shape the trajectory of relations between the two nations for at least half a decade. Barring a surprise, victory appears likely for the governing Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian general election, while the outcome of the US presidential race is a toss-up. Click here to read... [2]

Chabahar Port deal with Iran sparks sanctions warning for India from its 'good friend' US

Just hours after India signed a 10-year agreement to manage the Chabahar Port in Iran, the United States issued a warning, underscoring the "potential risk of sanctions" for "anyone" engaging in business dealings with Tehran. Click here to read... [3]

India and US have firm foundation of strategic alignment: Condoleezza Rice

India and the US have a firm foundation of strategic alignment that whoever comes to power in either of the countries, after their respective elections this year, the relationship will see an upward trajectory, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said. Click here to read... [4]

India touted as option to ease U.S. chip workforce gap

Indian talent could help solve anticipated worker shortages in U.S. chip supply chains, but immigration policies remain a hurdle as the two countries look to strengthen cooperation on critical technologies. Click here to read... [5]

US satisfied with Indian response in Pannun case: US Ambassador Eric Garcetti

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said the country is satisfied with the responses India has shared on the Pannun case and the indictment. “The US is satisfied with the accountability it has demanded from India regarding the allegations that its officials were involved in a plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil,” Garcetti said during an event. Click here to read... [6]

Ways to Strengthen the U.S.-Indian Naval Partnership

Across the Indo-Pacific, the United States has made common cause with a key strategic partner: India. The U.S.-India relationship, which top U.S. officials have called “the most important bilateral relationship on the planet,” has taken off recently, and some of its greatest successes have been in the maritime domain.1 India has purchased major U.S. naval platforms—including MH-60R helicopters, P-8 Poseidon antisubmarine warfare aircraft, and Harpoon missiles—and strengthened information sharing with the United States on China’s naval presence. Click here to read... [7]

Geopolitics & Foreign Policy

Biden’s Cease-Fire Plan Seeks to Push Hamas and Israel into a Deal Neither Wants

By publicly airing a peace plan to settle the war in Gaza, President Biden is hoping to box both the Israeli government and Hamas into talks on halting a war that neither side seems in any rush to end. The question now, though, is whether they will stay in the box. Click here to read... [8]

U.S. Lawmakers Meet with New Taiwan President Amid Tensions With China

U.S. lawmakers from both parties traveled to Taiwan this week to show support for the island democracy, the first such delegations since the inauguration of a new Taiwanese president and the large-scale Chinese military exercises that followed his swearing in. Click here to read... [9]

TikTok under U.S. ownership makes sense, Jake Sullivan says

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that it makes "all the sense in the world" for TikTok, the Chinese-owned popular short-video platform, to switch to U.S. ownership. Click here to read... [10]

Next U.S.-China chip battle will require more than export controls

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden appears to be nearing a quiet but momentous turning point in technology policy toward China. After initially focusing on restricting the transfer of advanced semiconductor technologies to China, officials are now signaling openness to the idea of restricting trade in "legacy" semiconductors made with older technologies as well. Click here to read... [11]

Panda diplomacy is back: China sending pair of bears to US by end of 2024

Planned arrival of rare bears at American capital breathes new life into decades-long conservation partnership amid tense Sino-US ties. Public debut date yet to be determined as zoo chief touts the bilateral collaboration’s ‘irrefutable impact’. Click here to read... [12]

Ukraine war: US urges NATO partners to stay wary of China over its support for Russia

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell briefed Nato counterparts in Brussels, highlighting Beijing’s assistance to Moscow “through the provision of dual-use components that are in essence enabling Russia to execute this war inside Ukraine”, according to Julianne Smith, US permanent representative to NATO. Click here to read... [13]

Renewed U.S. outreach to Bangladesh signals strategic shift in region

Just a month after the controversial January election, deemed unfair by Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden sent Hasina a letter expressing a "sincere desire" to work together on a range of issues, and "partnering ... on our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific." Click here to read... [14]

Congress to Fund U.S. Deep-Sea Mining Project

Congress is set to fund a project aimed at kick-starting the U.S. deep-sea mining industry, as part of a broader push to secure non-Chinese sources of critical metals that are vital for energy-transition technologies and defense applications. Click here to read... [15]

America Is Getting Ready for Space Warfare

In space warfare, the U.S. military is seeking the ultimate high ground. Intelligence disclosures about Russia’s interest in antisatellite weapons and satellite launches from China have energized U.S. efforts to defend its interests hundreds and even thousands of miles above the Earth’s surface. Click here to read... [16]

US Elections & Internal Dynamics

Guilty: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of felony crimes

Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election. Click here to read... [17]

Trump wants the Supreme Court to toss out his conviction. Will they?

Trump wrote on Truth Social, his personal social media site, that the Supreme Court “MUST” intervene after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Though Trump’s post wasn’t written with the precision of a legal brief, he appeared to float two separate theories that could justify tossing out his conviction: that the judge was impermissibly biased and that the prosecutor was out to get Trump. Click here to read... [18]

After Trump conviction, Democrats are in a triumphal mood. They shouldn’t be.

It’s doubtful the conviction will have any lasting impact on Trump’s election prospects, and will likely only accelerate the downward spiral of tit-for-tat partisan retaliation. Click here to read... [19]

What Does It Take to Flip the 2024 Battleground States?

The American electorate is always shifting, altering the scenarios that determine who the next president will be. The nation is becoming more diverse and more educated. Growing Latino and Asian-American communities are changing the voter composition in many states. The number of white, working-class voters—a majority of the electorate as recently as 2008—continues to shrink with each election. Click here to read... [20]

Trump Verdict Makes NYC “Venezuela-on-the-Hudson”

A former president was convicted of 34 misdemeanors for paperwork errors (whose statute of limitations had run out) that were changed to felonies because he had supposedly violated another state law—nowhere mentioned in the indictment—that makes it a crime to use “unlawful” means to promote or oppose the election of a candidate. Click here to read... [21]

Donald Trump’s trial, handling of campus protests show double standards of American rhetoric on democracy

The challenge the American political system faces today is not whether a Democrat or a Republican will win the 2024 presidential election. The US is faced with a multitude of legal dilemmas in the wake of multiple court cases—some decided, many in the process—against a former president and a presumptive presidential candidate. Click here to read... [22]

Washington is pushing policies to combat antisemitism. Critics say they could violate free speech

Against the backdrop of demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza on college campuses, the White House and Congress have announced a string of policies and commitments aimed at addressing what Joe Biden warned was a “ferocious surge of antisemitism” in the United States. Click here to read... [23]

Why so many middle-class Chinese migrants take risky, illegal route to U.S.

The number of Chinese migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border skyrocketed in 2023. Although the actual total is elusive, over 37,000 Chinese nationals were detained on the border with Mexico last year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This figure is 10 times greater than in pre-pandemic years. Click here to read... [24]