In May 2021 six experts group discussions were organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation through webinar on events and topics affecting India’s interests worldwide. The diversity of the expertise of each of the members of the expert groups brought rich flavour and knowledge on the topic through their varied professional backgrounds (military, diplomacy and academia). This issue contains reports of the West Asia, Indo-Pacific, Europe, Pakistan, China and US experts’ group discussions.

Lebanon in the current decade has witnessed pressing economic instability, political turmoil, large scale protests, and clashes with security officials, fires and explosion exposing the gross mismanagement and the incapacity of the present political structure. The political structure in Lebanon based on the confessional democratic model has resulted in corrupt and self-serving ruling elite that is responsible for its economic downturn and political instability.

The United Kingdom released its “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy” on 16 March 2021. Titled ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’, the document stands out for shaping the country’s post-Brexit foreign, defence, security and development priorities and policies. A notable aspect of the review is the UK’s foreign and security policy ‘tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific region. China, India and Japan are recognised as the three most important powers in this region with widely differing characteristics and relationships with the UK.

The Vivekananda International Foundation in collaboration with the Australian National University organised a virtual discussion on the emerging geopolitical trends and their implications on 4 November 2020. The opening remarks were made by VIF director, Dr. Arvind Gupta. This was followed by presentations from Professor Rory Medcalf, Amb. Arun K Singh, Dr. David Brewster, Amb. Anil Wadhwa and Mr. Brendan Thomas-Noone. The meeting focussed on the roundup of recently concluded Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Tokyo and underscored its symbolic importance.