Topic Of The Day:-“The New Great Game As It Unfolds“
Southern Asia is all set to witness the unfolding of several new geopolitical gambits. The U.S. appears to have found a new strategic balance in the region; China is pushing its way through the great American wall in Southern Asia; the ‘cold war’ between Kabul and Rawalpindi seems to be getting frostier by the day; Pakistan is focussed on several strategic moves; and New Delhi is looking to navigate various regional dilemmas and strategic indeterminacies. The stage is set for a new great game. The flurry of American activities, including the recently concluded visit by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, indicates Washington’s last-ditch attempt to regain control, and pre-eminence, over a region which is being pulled in conflicting directions, much to the discomfort of the U.S. administration. In doing so, Washington views New Delhi as the centrepiece of its regional grand strategy. New Delhi would do well to carefully, and constantly (re)consider its options vis-à-vis the U.S. grand strategy in Southern Asia.
Afghan calculations
Despite its initial reluctance, Washington is back to the Afghan chess table with renewed vigour — Mr. Tillerson and his colleagues in the Trump administration realise that an inability/unwillingness to get back in the game could potentially render them insignificant in the years ahead. Having been militarily outsmarted by the Taliban in the recent past, the U.S. has renewed efforts to hunt down the Taliban leadership with the eventual aim of bringing them to the negotiating table as well as checking Rawalpindi’s influence in the country, something Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would deeply appreciate. Washington and Kabul have expressed a desire to enlist New Delhi’s support to do so. For Washington, courting New Delhi is also useful in balancing the increasing Chinese presence in the region, including in Afghanistan. Moreover, the U.S. probably views its Afghan engagement as a face saver in the midst of its steady decline in Asia and President Donald Trump’s lack of credibility and standing abroad — hence there’s likely to be a lot of focus on Afghanistan in the days ahead. In a way, then, the U.S.’s unsavoury statements about Pakistan are intended to woo India to cooperate closely on Afghanistan. But make no mistake, the U.S. is also courting Pakistan in pursuit of its strategic objectives in the region, its anti-Pakistan rhetoric notwithstanding.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Gambits
Meaning: An act or remark that is calculated to gain an advantage, especially at the outset of a situation.
Example: His resignation was a tactical gambit.
Synonyms: Stratagem, Scheme
2) Cold war
Meaning: A state of extreme unfriendliness existing between countries, especially countries with opposing political systems, that expresses itself not through fighting but through political pressure and threats. The expression is usually used of the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union after the Second World War.
3) Frostier
Meaning: Cold and unfriendly in manner.
Example: Sebastian gave her a frosty look.
Synonyms: Unfriendly, Inhospitable
4) Dilemmas
Meaning: A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable.
Example: He wants to make money, but he also disapproves of it: Den’s dilemma in a nutshell.
Synonyms: Quandary, Predicament
5) Last-ditch
Meaning: Denoting a final attempt to achieve something after all else has failed.
Example: A last-ditch effort to break the deadlock.
Synonyms: Last-minute, Final
6) Pre-eminence
Meaning: The fact of surpassing all others; superiority.
Example: The Edinburgh Festival maintains its pre-eminence because of the quality of its programming.
Synonyms: Superiority, Supremacy
7) Reluctance
Meaning: Unwillingness or disinclination to do something.
Example: She sensed his reluctance to continue
Synonyms: Unwillingness, Disinclination
Antonyms: Willingness, Eagerness
8) Negotiating
Meaning: Obtain or bring about by discussion.
Example: He negotiated a new contract with the sellers.
Synonyms: Arrange, Broker
9) Enlist
Meaning: Engage (a person or their help or support).
Example: The company enlisted the help of independent consultants.
Synonyms: Obtain, Engage
Antonyms: Spurn
10) Unsavoury
Meaning: Disagreeable and unpleasant because morally disreputable.
Example: An unsavoury reputation.
Synonyms: Disreputable, Unpleasant
Antonyms: Reputable
11) Pursuit
Meaning: An activity of a specified kind, especially a recreational or sporting one.
Example: A whole range of leisure pursuits.
Synonyms: Activity, Relaxation
12) Rhetoric
Meaning: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
Example: He is using a common figure of rhetoric, hyperbole.
Synonyms: Oratory, Eloquence
