New Order with Afshin Rattansi will trace how India and its allies sit at the center of a transformation in world history. Power is moving, alliances are shifting, and the rules of trade, technology, and security are being rewritten. New Order is about diplomatic architecture: The networks of power, the flow of money, and the levers of influence that determine who gains and who loses in a world of tectonic transition.
Ex-Indian foreign intel. chief: Russia, China, and India acting together would be a formidable bloc
On this episode of New Order, we speak to the former chief of India’s Research and Analysis Wing, Vikram Sood. He discusses why Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t personally attending the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei, Trump’s potential pivot to Ukraine after the war on Iran, whether India is in a better position to deal with threats from the Trump administration, why Russia, China, and India working together could be a formidable power bloc and send a powerful message to the world, the internal and external pressures India faces, the weaponization of human rights by the West, the importance of soft power for India such as film and culture, the importance of the Chabahar Port in Iran for India’s national security, and much more.
Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks questions from you the viewers to Afshin Rattansi. You can send in your questions to @AfshinRattansi on X to be answered on next week’s episode!
BRICS ‘up and running’: How India will navigate US-Iran conflict and tensions with Trump – C. Uday Bhaskar
On this episode of New Order, we speak to retired Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar, director of the Society for Policy Studies. He discusses the importance of BRICS for India and his belief that the organization is finally ‘up and running’, why BRICS has not made any public statements against the US as it attacks and targets BRICS members, the growing realization about the threat of US economic warfare against India, his assessment of how India has played the US-Israeli war on Iran as Pakistan emerged as the chief negotiator between the US and Iran, the status of the Chabahar Port and the North-South Corridor after the war on Iran, the future relationship between India and Iran including on matters such as energy, India’s increasing credibility as a security partner for BRICS nations, and much more. Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks Afshin Rattansi questions from you, the viewers. You can send your questions to @AfshinRattansi on X. They may be answered on next week’s episode! And a question for you: Should BRICS have a maritime security agenda, given the disruption to West Asia’s sea lanes?
India doesn’t want to be pulled into any US war on China over Taiwan – Amb. Kanwal Sibal
On this episode of New Order, we speak to Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, former Ambassador of India to Russia, France, Egypt and Turkey, and Former Foreign Secretary of India. He discusses the dropping of ‘Indo’ from the US’ Indo-Pacific Command and what this signals for US-India relations, India’s desire to not be pulled into any US-China confrontation over Taiwan, the US killing of 3 Indian sailors in the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of any apology from the US, why QUAD is now dying a slow death, India’s view of the future of the North-South Corridor and whether the corridor was deliberately targeted during the US-Israeli war on Iran, how India will deal with increased tariffs and sanctions threats as the Trump Administration pivots back to the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine, why global south countries such as India and Brazil were invited to the G7 Summit, and much more. Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks questions which you the viewers have for Afshin Rattansi. You can send in your questions to be answered to @AfshinRattansi on X to be answered on next week’s episode! And lastly, a question for you, the viewers: India chairs BRICS and was just at the G7. Do you think India can keep balancing both worlds or will it be forced to pick a side by 2030?
India has become a truly global power, the time has come to strengthen BRICS – Dr. Andrey Kortunov
On this episode of New Order, we speak to Dr. Andrey Kortunov, political analyst at the Valdai International Discussion Club. He discusses the state of India-Russia relations and India’s power in the world today, the RELOS Agreement and why the US failed to break away India from Russia, the limits of US power proven by the war on Iran, whether the US can continue hampering Russia’s oil exports by cancelling waivers, why India will define the future of the Quad, the importance of the upcoming BRICS Summit in New Delhi and why it is time to strengthen its institutions, the state of Russia’s campaign in the proxy war against NATO in Ukraine, his prediction for when the war will end, and much more. Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks questions from you the viewers to Afshin Rattansi. You can send in your questions to @AfshinRattansi on X to be answered on next week’s episode! And a question for you the viewers: Do you expect the Ukraine proxy war to end in 2026?
The schizophrenic US foreign policy & death of the US-led world order – Prof. Charles Kupchan
On this episode of New Order, we speak to Prof. Charles Kupchan, who served as Barack Obama’s and Bill Clinton’s director of European affairs at the US National Security Council and is professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. He discusses why the old world is indeed dying, with the gradual death of the US-led liberal order accelerated by Donald Trump, the “schizophrenic” US foreign policy that oscillates between global domination and Western hemispheric domination, why Donald Trump started the war on Iran and fell into the same “black hole” as other US presidents in waging another fruitless war in the Middle East, whether a coherent strategic vision of a campaign against China is guiding Trump’s foreign policy, how the West’s political leaders have no solutions for their electorate’s problems, the ineffectiveness of Western sanctions against Iran and Russia, whether the world will allow the US to shape the emerging new order, and much more. Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan puts questions from you the viewers to Afshin Rattansi. You can send your questions to @AfshinRattansi on X, and they may be answered on next week’s episode! And a question for you the viewers: Are secondary sanctions turning middle powers into frontline actors in great power rivalry?
Prof. Richard Sakwa: We are witnessing the twilight of US unipolarity and the political West
On this episode of New Order, we speak to Richard Sakwa, Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Kent. He discusses the twilight of the political West and the end of the unipolar world, the 1914 levels of war fever in Europe against Russia as the Ukraine proxy war rages on, the declining impact of US and European sanctions against Russia, the evolution of the foreign policy of India and other Global South countries as US unipolarity declines, the increasing irrelevance of the United Nations in the new world order and why the world must double down on the UN, why this is the most difficult time in US-India relations in the last three decades, his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, the groupthink in Western Europe over Russia and the rise of new powers, and much more. Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks questions from you the viewers to Afshin Rattansi. You can send in your questions to be answered to @AfshinRattansi on X to be answered on next week’s episode! And a question for you, the viewers: How does India and the Global South deal with the threat of Western Europe’s war fever against Russia?