KP Fabian

Ambassador KP Fabian, 68, served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1964 to 2000. His last posting was in Rome, as Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative to UN Organizations including FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), WFP (World Food Programme), and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). Even while in service, Ambassador Fabian wrote and spoke on international affairs, mainly at universities in Madagascar, Austria, Iran, Sri Lanka, Canada, Finland, Qatar and Italy. The first address he delivered Mahatma Gandhi in 1969 at The Charles de Gaulle University, Tananarive, Madagascar. His presentation on the North-South Dialogue was published as a monograph by McGill University, Montreal (1983).

How The Largest Air Evacuation in History Unfolded

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On 2nd August 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein decided to have a ‘picnic’ in Kuwait by sending in his army across the border. He had massed troops at the border for weeks, and on 25th July 1990, the US Ambassador April Glaspie encouraged him to have the picnic, wittingly or unwittingly, by declaring that her instructions were to strengthen relations with Iraq; the US did not want to take any side in ‘intra-Arab’ disputes, a clear reference to Continue Reading...

Trump And The Iran Nuclear Deal: Geopolitics And Financial Unipolarity

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On 8 May 2018, US President Donald Trump, true to his style and ‘America First’ philosophy, walked out of the Iran nuclear deal, technically known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A fortnight has elapsed and it would be pertinent to examine the geopolitical implications of Trump’s decision. The US’ Position By now it is reasonably clear why Trump withdrew from the deal. He has failed to provide any rational argument against Continue Reading...

Qatar Deserves Kudos for Handling Crisis with Maturity and Logic

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Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt had listed 13 demands on June 23, 2017, warning that there would be serious consequences if Qatar failed to yield by July 2. Qatar rejected the ultimatum and the four countries have not yet carried out their threats. Instead, they have softened their stand, vaguely signaling that it might be enough if Qatar were to accede to ‘Six Principles’. In short, there has been no escalation and we Continue Reading...

Triumphant Trump and American Foreign Policy

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President Barack Obama, in his last official overseas tour to Greece, Germany, and Peru, reassured Europe that there would be continuity in American foreign policy under President-elect Donald Trump.  While Obama tried to convince his interlocutors about continuity in US policy, Trump’s statements during the campaign brought alarm and concern to America’s allies.  Obama himself had called Trump as ‘unqualified’ to be President and a peddler of Continue Reading...

The Attempted Coup in Turkey: What Next?

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To the relief of most Turks and of most of the global community, the military coup attempt in Turkey failed miserably.  But the coup attempt itself and subsequent events in Turkey raise a number of questions that are of concern to Turks and the well-wishers of that geopolitically important country.  While the elected government of President Erdogan deserved to survive, it does not follow that, in that process, democracy in Turkey got Continue Reading...

The Chilcot Report on Blair and the War on Iraq

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Sir John Chilcot has finally come out with his 2.6 million-word report that was actually due in 2010.  It will take a person seven days to read the report in full, if read non-stop.  In terms of length, the report is three times the size of the complete works of Shakespeare.  We might assume that none outside the Chilcot Inquiry might have read it in full so far since its publication on July 7.  Perhaps, none in the Inquiry Committee too – four Continue Reading...

Beyond the border – India China Boundary Issues

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Although there are many books on the complex issue of the unsettled boundary between India and China, Ambassador Ranjit Singh Kalha’s book Indian-China Boundary Issues is a welcome addition.  Broadly, there are two schools of thought among scholars studying China.  The first one worships China with such devotion that we need to coin a new word, sinolatry, along the lines of idolatry, to describe it.  Examples of two books in this school readily Continue Reading...

Chess Game over Crimea

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Russia has won the chess game.  President Putin played well.  The other side consisting of the fledgling government in Kiev, President Obama, and the European Union could have played a better game.  There was a significant failure on the part of Obama, his advisers such as Ambassador Samantha Power, the European Union, and the rest of the West in understanding the ground realities and grasping the big picture.  For example, Obama and even German Continue Reading...