Rajeesh Kumar

The ruling is considered the most detailed decision of the United Nations' top court in war compensation and signifies the occupying powers' reparation duties for damages resulting from its direct and indirect actions that violate international law. The judgement is undoubtedly historic and destined to act as a precedent for future cases. It once again establishes the fact that international law matters in situations of interstate armed conflicts.

• Published: January-June 2022
• Africa Trends

To sustain its historical interest and influence in the UN peacekeeping operations, India should provide technical assistance to the missions while continuing to contribute troops, rather than a complete transformation from being a traditional troop contributor to a technology contributor.

• Published: September 14, 2021
• IDSA Comments

The vaccine inequity is not only morally indefensible but clinically counter-productive. Allowing most of the world’s population to go unvaccinated will only spawn new virus mutations. Preventing this humanitarian catastrophe requires removing barriers – such as TRIPS – to vaccine production and its equitable distribution.

• Published: July 12, 2021
• Issue Brief

The year 2020 marked 75 years of India’s association with the United Nations. India was one of the founding members of the UN when its institutional edifice was built in 1945. Since then, the concept of UN centrality in international peace and security matters is one of the features of Indian foreign policy. Over the decades, India played an active role in the UN’s political process and significantly contributed to its policies and programmes. At the UN, India stood at the fore of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.

• Published: May 2021
• Strategic Analysis

UNAMID's exit did not emerge from a context of peace or progress towards conflict resolution in Darfur. Instead, the exit decision was essentially the outcome of the reflection that keeping the mission on the ground would not change the situation. Initially, the hybrid peacekeeping model was seen as a paradigm shift in peacekeeping operations, and many hailed it as the future of UN peace operations.

• Published: January-December 2021
• Africa Trends

COVID-19 vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations will prolong the pandemic, and result in greater economic and social damage.

• Published: January 04, 2021
• Issue Brief

Strategic Analysis, Volume 44, Issue 5 (2020)

Special Issue: UN@75 – Challenges Ahead

• Published: September 2020
• Strategic Analysis

While India’s decision to ban Chinese apps is legally tenable under both domestic IT laws and international trade rules, it is important that any ambiguity in the ban order that can be challenged at WTO is effectively addressed.

• Published: July 29, 2020
• Issue Brief

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities of the international system, particularly those of multilateral institutions. When the much spoken borderless threat became a reality, the multilateral institutions were found not only unprepared but acting in a self-destructive mode.

• Published: May 21, 2020
• IDSA Comments

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Rajeesh Kumar’s chapter on American exceptionalism, titled ‘From Bush to Trump: American Exceptionalism and its implications for Multilateralism’ has been published in Arzu Merali & Faisal Bodi, eds. The New Colonialism: The American Model of Human Rights, London: IHRC, 2019.

The chapter examines the implications of American exceptionalism, belief that the US differs qualitatively from other nations, on multilateralism by analysing the US foreign policy from President George W. Bush to Donald Trump. It argues that American exceptionalism always seeks to safeguard the sovereignty of the US in all aspects of global politics, and this approach often transformed into unilateral international actions and challenged the very existence of multilateral institutions.

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• Published: 1 May, 2020