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Srini Sitaraman

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wars, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Coups, and Economic Collapse

By |2023-11-29T14:00:40-10:00November 9th, 2023|

Dr. Ethan Allen, Dr. Sebastian Kevany, and Dr. Srini Sitaraman, DKI-APCSS Summary Between escalating active kinetic conflicts and the ever-growing and ever-more-severe environmental impacts of climate disruption, governments around the world are facing increasingly complex choices in dealing with simultaneous and sequential crises. Never before in human history have so many states had to juggle so many disasters in such a short time frame, and our governance mechanisms are, in many cases, woefully inadequate for this overwhelming task. The trends strongly suggest the situation will only get worse in upcoming years. Successfully coping with and improving our degrading physical and [...]

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Cross-Domain Repercussions of the Continuing India-China Border Conflict   

By |2022-06-03T16:44:57-10:00June 3rd, 2022|

By Srini Sitaraman Introduction In the summer of 2020, during the early peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, India-China clashed on the mountain ridges of the Himalayas. This collision involved hand-to-hand combat with clubs and metal rods that caused the death of 20 Indian military personnel and four Chinese PLA (People’s Liberation Army) soldiers.[1] As with the clash, the political and military relationship between India and China rapidly deteriorated. India and China have aggressively fortified the border areas and they are rapidly building military structures along the border areas that include the construction of access roads, bunkers, helipads, ammo depots, and [...]

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Lessons from India’s Handling of the Second Wave of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Surge

By |2021-08-06T14:30:49-10:00August 6th, 2021|

By Srini Sitaraman, Professor, DKI APCSS Sebastian Kevany, Associate Professor, DKI APCSS[*] Abstract The second wave of the coronavirus caused by the mutant Delta variant led to the deaths of 209,182 people from April 15 to June 17, 2021 in India (Data source: Our World in Data). But, some estimates peg the number of COVID-19-related deaths significantly higher (see footnote no. 1). This article assesses India’s handling of the second wave of the coronavirus, and seeks to draw some lessons from India’s experience. Several causes emerged simultaneously and unfortunately, colluded to surprise and overwhelm public health officials and the Indian [...]

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Strategic Competition, Cooperation, and Accommodation: Perspectives from the Indian Ocean Region

By |2021-03-23T08:15:53-10:00March 23rd, 2021|

By Saira Yamin, Daniel Cedillo, Nicholas Sikes, Srini Sitaraman, Keith Wilkins* Introduction This article draws on conversations facilitated at the virtual Indian Ocean Region Workshop convened by the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) in Honolulu, Hawaii, in partnership with its sister security studies center, the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) in Washington D.C.  The workshop occurred over three consecutive days from Dec. 7 – 9, 2020.[1] Over 90 participants from 14 nations participated in the deliberations focusing on two key objectives: (i) Define the diverse perspectives on strategic competition and its [...]

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China’s Global Security Aspirations with Afghanistan and the Taliban

By |2020-08-13T09:43:31-10:00August 13th, 2020|

This paper details possible motives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in forming new partnerships with Afghanistan through a historic lens, amidst the effects of COVID-19 and the U.S. withdrawal. Excerpt As the U.S. plans its departure from Afghanistan, China is using the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop to build regional ties in meetings with Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan that aim to extend the BRI. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “We will actively promote the building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Trans-Himalayan Connectivity network, support the extension of the corridor to Afghanistan, and further unleash the dividends [...]

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Why is China on a Hyper-Aggressive Streak during a Global Pandemic?

By |2020-06-09T14:35:40-10:00June 9th, 2020|

In this OpEd, Dr. Srini Sitaraman offers three explanations as to why China is engaged in hyper-aggressive behavior in the midst of a global pandemic. Excerpt: As the tensions surrounding China’s accountability in the cause and origins of the COVID-19 continue to mount, China has instigated a global campaign of aggressive rhetoric termed—Wolf Warrior Diplomacy and increased its assertiveness in taking advantage of countries distracted by the global pandemic. Beijing has commenced a violent political crackdown in Hong Kong completely overturning the One-Country, Two-Systems Model to crush all forms of democracy in Hong Kong. View/Download Document [...]

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China’s Salami Slicing Tactics and the Latest India-China Border Standoff

By |2020-06-09T14:32:33-10:00June 9th, 2020|

In this OpEd, Dr. Srini Sitaraman discusses India’s strategy for dealing with the increasing border incursions committed by China while minimalizing the effects of COVID-19 and what is required for de-escalation. Excerpt: At its heart, the People’s Republic of China is a territorially revisionist, expansionist, and hegemonic state and it will not stop until it achieves the goals of capturing all of the land and sea areas over which it believes it has “historic rights.” Beijing has particularly turned to an aggressive maritime posture in the South China Sea and has increased its infrastructure construction along the LAC and increased [...]

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2019-NCOV Political Framing and Blame-Gaming

By |2020-05-13T09:59:54-10:00May 13th, 2020|

In this paper, Dr. Srini Sitaraman demonstrates how the mechanisms of political interference have historically resulted in disastrous outcomes in battling pandemics, and highlights this repeating pattern with COVID-19. Excerpt: According to an American intelligence assessment, the conclusion that 2019-nCoV is “not manmade or genetically modified” is the current official position. However, intelligence officials continue to explore “whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.” Several governments have called for independent inquiries into the origins of 2019-nCoV and publicly issued calls for re-examining economic and [...]

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Plagues, Pandemics, and Global Political Change in a Historical Context

By |2020-04-14T09:15:03-10:00April 14th, 2020|

Researchers believe that the Athenian Plague might have originated in Ethiopia made its way through the Port of Piraeus, which was a primary source for food and supplies to Athens. The Spartans burned the fields around the city walls within which the Athenian population was sheltering, hence Athens had to depend on sea routes for its food supply opening up a channel for the plague contagion. Collapse of the Greek city state system was trigged by war and the plague, which ravaged the region and it caused famine and drought, and reset the political balance in the Mediterranean by ultimately [...]

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COVID-19: End of Hyper-globalization and Start of Hyper-Localization?

By |2020-04-02T11:10:06-10:00March 27th, 2020|

The 1918 Spanish flu immediately following World War-I, the Second World War, breakdown of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War, 9-11 terror attacks, and collapse of the Lehman Brothers and the 2008 Financial Crisis, all of these events were world altering events. They changed the course of human societies and political, economic, and societal organizations in some fundamental ways. The 2008 collapse of the financial markets saw the tightening of the loan requirements and consumer credit markets, 9-11 terror attacks saw the implementation of rigorous airport security checks and immigration control at every airport across the world, [...]

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