Trump is not aligning with Benjamin Netanyahu he is taking cues from him. On Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, US policy looks dictated, not led. This is not strength it is strategic shrinkage and has led to America's isolation. #MyPiece
My talk today at the European Academy of Sciences, titled “Peace and Security in a Multipolar World: New Risks and New Responsibilities for Science and Society.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYyw...
Pakistan pushes for second US-Iran talks and seeks 'guarantees' for Tehran - With my two cents. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ir... via @NikkeiAsia
Navigating a New Era in International Environmental Diplomacy, a panel discussion at Ohio University on March 26, 2026. Speakers: Dr. Ken Conca, Dr. Ashok Swain & Dr. Stacy VanDeveer. Dr. Geoff Dabelko facilitated the roundtable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NlW...
The significance of #Pakistan’s role lies not in some romantic idea of neutral peacemaking. scroll.in/article/1092...
It can carry messages, reduce the political cost of contact, & provide a venue where talks can begin without either side appearing to surrender.
✍️Ashok Swain
Today, Pakistan hosts the talk between the US and Iran. Pakistan mediating between the US and Iran isn’t surprising - it’s structural. From the US–China opening to Afghan talks, Islamabad has long thrived as a backchannel state. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1092...
Why Trump wanted a ceasefire with Iran? Discussed the reason and implications on @SatyaHindi. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ximM...
My interview with The Express Tribune. www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/how-...
Trump’s foreign policy has stripped away the mask of US global leadership. Expansionism, the Iran war, and alliance erosion reveal a deeper truth: in trying to counter China, Washington is accelerating its own decline and strengthening Beijing’s hand. #MyPiece
Gulf states are not only energy exporters but also water-dependent societies whose survival rests on a fragile network of desalination facilities. scroll.in/article/1091...
Oil and gas built the Gulf economies, but desalinated seawater sustains the populations that inhabit them, writes Ashok Swain.
As the Iran War fumbles, Trump’s “Cuba is next” isn’t rhetoric, it’s a warning. From oil blockades to regime-change whispers, history is repeating itself in the Caribbean. Sovereignty is once again negotiable in Washington’s imperial playbook. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/cuba...
The US–Israel war on Iran has backfired. What began as a war on the regime is now seen as a war on Iran itself. Instead of collapse, the Islamic Republic is consolidating power, fueled by nationalism, historical memory, and foreign aggression. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/world/lesson...
Missiles and drone may shake oil markets and gas supply, but targeting desalination plants exposes a deeper crisis: the Gulf’s survival depends on manufactured water. The Iran war risks turning water into a weapon and cities into dry zones. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1091...
The U.S. and Israel will not win the war with Iran. No clear objective, no viable endgame, and no understanding of how such wars actually end. History has shown this before, from Iraq to Afghanistan. #MyPiece
www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/why-...
My interview with Nikkei Asia:
After keeping the India Water Treaty in abeyance, India is carrying out Tulbul project - It could be weaponized politically both Pakistani civilian & military elites, & during war, it could be a legitimate target. asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
The Board of Peace waged a war before bringing any peace. In an interview with @hammadsarfraz of Pakistan's @etribune, I explain how Muslim countries, who are part of this Board are not for peace in Gaza but for their transactional politics with the US. tribune.com.pk/story/259512...
After Nepal’s March election, no leader—however pragmatic—will be able to openly pursue a pro-India policy, because Modi’s coercive and nationalist approach has made political distance from New Delhi a domestic necessity in Kathmandu. #MyPiece
As South Asia slides into democratic decline, Nepal’s March 2026 election stands out as a rare test of whether youth power, republican values, and real electoral choice can still keep the idea of democracy alive. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1090...
Newly Released Report of Independent Commission of Inquiry into the 2022 Violence in Leicester:
"The failure to confront Hindutva supremacism risks deepening and entrenching communal tensions within
UK South Asian communities." www.leicesterinquiry.org
Bangladesh’s toughest foreign policy test under PM Tarique Rahman won’t be Hasina’s exile in India, it will be water. With the Ganges Water Treaty expiring in Dec 2026 amid climate stress & West Bengal election, failure is not an option. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/tari...
“Global politics was never truly based on rules — and today’s world is proof.” In my long interview with Nepali news outlet Ratopati, I unpack the decline of Western order, the myth of multipolarity, rising populism & what it means for South Asia & Nepal. www.ratopati.com/story/545110...
“The Indus Waters Treaty operates in a relationship defined by deep mistrust, where technical legality rarely settles political fears” - My Two cents in this 'Foreign Policy' piece on India and Pakistan's Water Politics. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/16/i...
Rebuilding occupied Gaza, after the war is not just a diplomatic or security challenge. It is an environmental one. Without safe water, clean land, and managed debris, reconstruction will only reproduce crisis. #MyPiece National Herald, 15 February 2026.
Bangladesh votes on Feb 12 in a post-Hasina moment. For India, clinging to old loyalties is a strategic mistake. With Jamaat’s rise fueled by anti-India sentiment, Delhi’s safest bet is pragmatic engagement the BNP under Tarique Rahman. #MyPiece www.hardnewsmedia.com/2026/02/indi...
Excited to Moderate This Important Conversation!
I’ll be moderating the “Environmental Peacebuilding in Transboundary River Catchments” webinar — part of the Path to Ottawa series on 10 Feb 2026 at 14:00 GMT.
www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/events/show/...
The US–Iran standoff is no longer theoretical. Drones shot down, ships harassed, airstrikes already tested. Regime change by force will not contain Iran - it will ignite the region. Diplomacy is not weakness. It is necessity. #MyPiece
Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead
The speakers:
Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute
Geoff Dabelko (Moderator), Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Service
Ashok Swain, Uppsala University a
Sarah Njeri, University of London
www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Wp...
"Have you heard the saying: when you meet an Indian and a snake, kill the Indian first."
Terje Rod-Larsen to Jeffery Epstein on the Christmas Day, 2015.
This Racist Rod-Larsen is now a minister in Norway, and he wrote it as the President of International Peace Institute (2004-2020).
We are recruiting 2 fully funded PhD positions in Peace & Conflict Research (Uppsala University, Sweden).
1 General PhD position (open topic within peace & conflict research)
1 PhD position focused on Nuclear Disarmament
Apply here: uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
