All Things Policy
Episodes
Ep. 318: How MAD was the Cold War?
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many accounts of the Cold War accept the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). But did leaders and policymakers actually believe in MAD? And i...
Ep. 317: Containing the Misinformation Virus
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The spread of misinformation has complicated the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the misinformation ecosystem has thrived on both the no...
Ep. 316: Other Strategic Reserve: Securing Medical Equipment for India
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID outbreak has resulted in shortages of key PPE and medical equipment. Building a strategic reserve of these could help encourage indigenous m...
Ep. 315: COVID-19: Crisis or Opportunity?
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Every crisis is also an opportunity," the old saying goes. Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane have some ideas on when that actually happens - and wha...
Ep. 314: The PLA and Covid-19
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
China claims its military has been unscathed by the novel coronavirus pandemic despite being part of the containment effort. Could this claim be true?...
Ep. 313: Content Moderation During COVID Times
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Less than a year ago, the social media giants claimed that moderating content online was an arduous task. Yet, under the shadow of Covid-19, these com...
Ep. 312: India’s FDI Dilemmas
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Foreign investment will be critical to reviving the Indian economy as the threat from Covid-19 retreats. At the same time, there's concern about forei...
Ep. 311: A National Reopening Strategy For India
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As India prepares to ease lockdown restrictions and restore economic activity, most epidemiological models expect there to be fresh waves of infection...
Ep. 310: Learning from History: Bengal Famine and Covid-19
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Bengal Famine was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern Indian history. What caused the famine and can it tell us how to handle a pand...
Ep. 309: Spending More in the Face of Covid-19
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The end of the nation-wide lockdown will inevitably force the union government to spend more money on healthcare and economic recovery. But is there m...
Ep. 308: Price Controls in a Pandemic
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Indian authorities have imposed price caps on face masks and sanitisers. Private labs have been told to conduct Covid-19 tests for free. While these m...
Ep. 307: The Shape of India's Nuclear Arsenal
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While India has a transparent nuclear doctrine, its nuclear arsenal is almost a black box to outsiders. Are India's existing nuclear weapons sufficien...
Ep. 306: The Hashtag Pandemic
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Who is to blame for Covid-19? It depends on who you ask, and it might depend on which country's information operations they have been exposed to on so...
Ep. 305: Have the Hong Kong Protests Failed
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a pause in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The movement, however, continues to command public support and fr...
Ep. 304: Is There a Doctor on the Phone?
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Medical Council of India has announced guidelines for the practice of telemedicine by registered doctors. Can telemedicine help shield frontline h...
Ep. 303: Truth-Telling in the Military
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How should military leaders report difficult truths up the chain of command? As the coronavirus spread on board an American aircraft carrier, its capt...
Ep. 302: India's Neighbours and Covid
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been dealing with the global pandemic in their own ways. In this episode, Anand Arni, Pranay Kotasthane and Su...
Ep. 301: WHO and The Pandemic
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Did the WHO mishandle the SARS-Cov-2 outbreak? Should it have raised the alarm earlier and declared it a pandemic? Suyash Desai and Nischitha Suresh t...
Ep. 300: NPT, Covid-19 and the Future
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty turned 50 this year. But its landmark review conference this year has been postponed because of the global pandemi...
Ep. 299: China Invests in India
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The past six years have witnessed phenomenal growth in Chinese private sector investment in India. So which sectors have gained the most? How does thi...
Ep. 298: Post Pandemic Economics
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What will India's economy look like at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic? What should the union and state governments do to limit the damage and aid a ...
Ep. 297: COVID and China's Economy
03 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted China’s economy? Are we likely to see a swift recovery or a lengthy period of stops and starts? And what’s ...
Ep. 296: Pakistan's Pandemic Politics
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we know so little about how the coronavirus pandemic is hurting Pakistan? In this episode, Pranay Kotasthane, Sarthak Pradhan and Sakshi Arora ...
Ep. 295: India and the Oil Wars
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Russia-Saudi face-off on oil production combined with the global pandemic has sent crude prices plunging. What's the global impact of low energy p...
Ep. 294: A Grand Strategy with Chinese Characteristics
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is considered to be China's path to carving a new world order. But who conceptualized it first? And how do the Chin...
Ep. 293: The Geopolitics of Covid-19
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How is the Covid-19 pandemic reshaping the Sino-US relationship? Are we witnessing a geopolitical realignment in Europe? Is China’s influence growin...
Ep. 292: Sandalwood: A Sad Story
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when the government takes away your property rights? Why does the state government own all sandalwood trees in Karnataka? In this episode...
Ep. 291: Pandemic Winners
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While the Covid-19 pandemic has cast a gloom over the global economy, there are some sectors and companies that continue to thrive. Rohan Seth and Nis...
Ep. 290: Tech in the Time of Corona
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A number of states have leveraged technology solutions to combat the Covid-19 outbreak. What have they done? What can India learn from their experien...
Ep. 289: Viral World Order
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We are probably still in the early days of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. What human and financial toll will it take? And what sort of a world will...
Ep. 288: The Two Ns Meet: The End of Pandemics?
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Could we be experiencing the last global pandemic? Will revolutions in computing and synthetic biology transform the way we deal with contagious disea...
Ep. 287: Narratives of COVID-19
20 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Covid-19 cases spread around the world, China says it has ‘turned the tide’ to contain the outbreak. Anirudh Kanisetti and Manoj Kewalramani di...
Ep. 286: Ruling the World-Island
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Vladimir Putin is consolidating his power both internally and along Russia's peripheries. Is there a method that underlies Moscow's behaviou...
Ep. 285: Stocking up on Oil: India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
India is one of the most oil-dependent countries in the world. But what can it do when hydrocarbon supplies are disrupted? Anupam Manur and Narayan Ra...
Ep. 284: Making Sense of China's Military Modernization
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The military reforms initiated by President Xi Jinping have brought sweeping changes to the People's Liberation Army (PLA). But are these measures mak...
Ep. 283: Yes, Banks Fail
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Yes Bank crisis has spurned the government to send State Bank of India (SBI) to its rescue. This has led to a further consolidation of public sect...
Ep. 282: The Two Ns Meet
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From the COVID-19 outbreak to the Yes Bank crisis, the Indian and the world economy are being buffeted by relentless waves of crises. Anupam Manur tal...
Ep. 281: The Coronavirus Update
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is the global Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic? What must India do to contain its fallout? Nitin Pai and Shambhavi Naik join Aditya Ramanathan to discuss ...
Ep. 280: VP Menon's Legacy
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
VP Menon rose from nothing to become a critical figure in both the transfer of power from the British and the integration of India's states. In this e...
Ep. 279: The Contest for Undersea Supremacy
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the murky depths below Asia's oceans, competition is brewing between major powers as they seek to protect and expand their fleets of ballistic miss...
Ep. 278: Bertil Lintner on India-China Rivalry
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From Wuhan to Chennai, both China and India have reiterated that they must not let differences turn into disputes.
Ep. 277: The Problem of Depressed Potatoes
06 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The humble potato emerged from the mountains of Peru to become a staple food around the world. Today, the potato suffers from inbreeding or 'depressio...
Ep. 276: Getting More Women in the Workforce
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
India continues to have too few women at work even in white-collar jobs. What can be done to increase their numbers? Anupam Manur asks Sowmya Nandan a...
Ep. 275: Sense and Censorship?
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The decision by the streaming service Hotstar to withhold the show Last Week Tonight has stirred controversy. In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani, Prat...
Ep. 274 What Next in Afghanistan?
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
America's deal with the Taliban is being celebrated by some as a step towards peace. Are they right? Anand Arni and Pranay Kotasthane join Aditya Rama...
Ep. 273: Indian Troops in Afghanistan?
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the U.S. looking for a quick exit from Afghanistan, should India consider putting boots on the ground? Pranay Kotasthane is joined by Manoj Kewal...
Ep. 272 China's Expeditionary Forces
28 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Slowly but surely, China is developing expeditionary capabilities that will allow it to project power in the overseas territory. What's driving it to ...
Ep. 271: Fighting the Coronavirus Pt 4
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While the number of new coronavirus cases are falling in China, Xi says the situation remains “grim and complex.” What’s worse, there are new ho...
Ep. 270: The Perils of Eugenics
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As gene-editing technology advances, the social contexts within which it will unfold need to be understood and integrated into policy planning. Shambh...
Ep. 269: A European Nuclear Force?
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
French President Emmanuel Macron wants European Union countries to discuss the possibility of giving France's nuclear forces a broader role in Europea...
Ep. 268: Is a Multipolar World Good for India?
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Even as India receives US President Donald Trump with fanfare it remains committed to a multipolar world order. But is such an order really conducive ...
Ep. 267: Fighting the Coronavirus Pt 3
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A new speech by Xi Jinping shows that the Chinese leadership was aware of the outbreak well before strict measures were taken. Is this an admission of...
Ep. 266: Trump Comes to India
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
US President Donald Trump is set to land in Ahmedabad on February 24 on his first trip to India. But will his visit amount to anything more than hype?...
Ep. 265: India's Fiscal Future
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 15th Finance Commission has come out with a slew of recommendations. Which states stand to gain and which ones stand to lose? Anupam Manur and Pra...
Ep. 264: Reading the Economist
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Reading the Economist, Aditya Ramanathan is joined by Anirudh Kanisetti and Suyash Desai to discuss the failure of UN peacemaking, ar...
Ep. 263: Competition and Reassurance in the Indo-Pacific
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is China now playing nice after years of assertiveness? Does India's policy of "evasive balancing" make any sense? Manoj Kewalramani and Suyash Desai ...
Ep. 262: Fighting the Coronavirus Pt 2
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the coronavirus continues to take a lethal toll across the world, Manoj Kewalramani and Shambhavi Naik take stock of recent developments and try to...
Ep. 261: Caste Away
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After hundreds of years of caste endogamy, one would think that Indian society would be far more open to intercaste marriages than it actually is. Sha...
Ep. 260: Dissing Misinformation
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook recently stated that a doctored video of U.S. congresswoman Nancy Pelosi did not violate community guidelines. So what constitutes fake news?...
Ep. 259: Reading the Economist
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Reading the Economist, Aditya Ramanathan, Anirudh Kanisetti, and Sarthak Pradhan explore everything from the consequences of the Atla...
Ep. 258: India versus the Internet
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly six months after the internet shutdown in J&K, the Union government's decision to partially lift the shutdown has been riddled with controversy...
Epi 257: Fighting the Coronavirus
07 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus continues to spread across China and beyond. The WHO has declared a global health emergency, and governments across the world are rush...
Ep 256: The Challenge of Theatre Commands
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat announced that the armed forces would transition to theatre commands in the next three years. Why d...
Ep. 255: Does the Budget Matter
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Union Budgets are an annual ritual marked by pageantry and breathless commentary. But how important are they? In this episode, Anupam Manur and Pranay...
Ep. 254: The Dilemmas of Nuclear Security
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How big a threat is a nuclear terrorism? How did the AQ Khan network really work? And is arms control dead? In this special episode, Matthew Bunn, Pro...
Ep. 253: China's AI Ambitions and Nuclear Weapons
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
China's has an ambitious plan to use artificial intelligence to transform its armed forces. But how would such changes affect nuclear stability? Lora ...
Ep 252: Religion and Money In Medieval Gujarat
31 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Medieval India is far more complicated than we give it credit for - it’s full of wily merchants, pragmatic rulers, and complex interactions. Anirudh...
Ep 251: The Final Frontier
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Takshashila's policy proposal, 'The New Space Policy 2020' proposes a clear governance structure that paves the way for the growth of the nascent priv...
Ep. 250: The Dark Side Of The Kashmir Whitelist
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tech researchers Rohini Lakshané and Prateek Waghre join Anirudh Kanisetti to discuss the whitelist of 301 sites that have been made accessible in Ja...
Ep. 249: The Rise and Fall of West Asia
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
West Asia is notorious today for its geopolitical instability - but has that always been the case? What do the premodern states of the region tell us ...
Ep. 248: The Virus From Wuhan
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Wuhan virus is already spreading across the world and taking a deadly toll. But what is the virus anyway and how does it spread? In this episode, ...
Ep. 247: Dispatches From China
24 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Indian media coverage of China often tends to be dominated by issues like national security and border frictions. There’s little original reportage ...
Ep. 246: The Stubborn Challenge of PSU Reform
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What kind of products should a state-run PSU produce? Do PSUs make a profit? In this episode, Anupam Manur, Pranay Kotasthane and Sarthak Pradhan talk...
Ep. 245: Protection from Data Protection
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What power does the government have over your data? How should India approach global data sharing agreements? With the Joint Parliamentary Committee d...
Ep. 244: Ten Risks to Global Health
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Though people on average live longer today, there remain serious threats to global health. But do we know what these are? In this episode Anirudh Kani...
Ep. 243: Going Soft on Hard Balancing
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the rise of China and the slow decline of the international system, how should countries think about the balance of power? In this special episod...
Ep. 242: The State of India's Media
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is the role of news media in India today and how do we assess its health? In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani and Suyash Desai sit down with veter...
Ep. 241: The Meaning of Taiwan’s Elections
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen won a second four-year term in an historic election on January 11. Suyash Desai and Manoj Kewalramani join Anirudh K...
Ep. 240: Shooting the Messenger
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Should the government be allowed to know whom you’re texting? Should it be able to pressure social media companies to silence voices? With the IT Ac...
Ep. 239: Reading Foreign Policy Magazine: From Flight Shaming to Volunteer Journalism
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do countries really need a grand strategy? Can volunteers transform journalism? And what's up with the curious phenomenon of 'flight shaming'? In this...
Ep. 238: Behaving Badly in the South China Sea
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A high profile confrontation at sea between China and Indonesia comes even as countries in the region try to come up with a common code of conduct. Ma...
Ep. 237: Favourite Books from 2019
10 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What books did people at Takshashila read in 2019? What is the significance of these books? In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani, Nitin Pai and Rohan Se...
Ep. 236: The Year that Changed the World
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A strange revolution, a catastrophic invasion, a dramatic terrorist attack, and an economic transformation. Few years in modern history have been as c...
Ep. 235: The Death of Soleimani - The US, Iran, and West Asia
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds expeditionary force, is a pivotal moment in the history of modern West Asia. Aditya R...
Ep. 234: Reading the Economist: On China, Tech and Forest Fires
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Anirudh Kanisetti and Utkarsh Narain join Aditya Ramanathan to discuss the most interesting stories of the week: China and the US are undergoing a div...
Ep. 233: SSF - China’s War-Winning Tool
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Four years after its inception, China's Strategic Support Force (SSF), which is responsible for cyber, space and electronic warfare, has become centra...
Ep. 232: The World of Public Policy
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does someone who wants to influence policy actually do so outside of government? How does a policy career help transform the country, and for that...
Ep. 231: The Many Colours of Krishna Menon - A Conversation with Jairam Ramesh
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
V. K. Krishna Menon is probably India's most famous defence minister - especially for his role in the 1962 Sino-Indian War. But it turns out there's a...
Ep. 230: 2019 in Review: The Indian Economy
25 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How has the Indian economy fared in 2019? From agricultural output to the GDP calculations, Apurva Kumar, Pranay Kotasthane, and Anupam Manur try to f...
Ep. 229: 2019 in Review: India and the World
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How did India’s foreign policy hold up in 2019? From the ASAT test to Howdy Modi, Manoj Kewalramani, Pranay Kotasthane, Sankalp Gurjar and Suyash De...
Ep. 228: 2019 in Review: Tech in India
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What did 2019 mean for the Indian tech space? Rohan Seth talks to Utkarsh Narain and Prateek Waghre about how the debate has progressed in policy circ...
Ep. 227: Cyber Insecurity: What should India do in cyberspace?
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Union government is asking for inputs on a cybersecurity strategy for a new India. Takshashila’s Tech Team, Prateek Waghre, Utkarsh Narain, and ...
Ep. 226: Beware, Warehouses!: Amazon's Fulfillment Centres and Local Economies
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when Amazon enters or leaves an Indian city? In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani talks to Anupam Manur and Rohan Seth about how Amazon's n...
Ep. 225: Does the Government Want Your Data?
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What does the Personal Data Protection Bill say about linking Aadhar to social media? What exactly will the proposed Data Protection Authority even do...
Ep. 224: Reading the Economist: Institutional Crises and Captures
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What role do institutions of the state play in shaping government policy, and how do these institutions affect policy when in peril? In this edition o...
Ep. 223: China: the Middle-Aged Kingdom
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
China’s fertility rate is down to just 1.6. The workforce is shrinking while the population of the elderly grows. At the same time, the now abandone...
Ep. 221: Is Cyberwarfare Coming?
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The term “cyber warfare” has come into vogue in recent times, but nobody seems to know what it actually is. In this episode, Anirudh Kanisetti sit...
Ep. 220: Is NATO Going to Collapse?: The 70th Anniversary Episode
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After last week's annual summit, cracks seem to be appearing in NATO over Russia, Turkey, and even the USA. Is this anti-Soviet alliance finally on it...
Ep. 219: Reading the Economist: The Rise and Fall of Economies
10 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Reading the Economist, Apurva Kumar and Suyash Desai join Anirudh Kanisetti to discuss global inequality and how bad policies are holdi...
Ep. 218: What can India do about China?
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Anirudh Kanisetti and Suyash Desai join Manoj Kewalramani to further unpack our report to India's Parliament on China's rise. This is part 2 of 2, exp...