Titli Basu

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Titli Basu’s article titled, 'Japan, India and the Chabahar Connect in the Indo-Pacific’ has been published in Journal of Middle Eastern Studies on March 1, 2020.

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• Published: 1 March, 2020

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Dr. Titli Basu’s article titled, ‘China-Japan-US triangle: Abe’s balancing act’ has been published in ‘The Interpreter’ (Lowy Institute) on February 21, 2020.

The article argues that Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's legacy will be defined by how skillfully he navigates fluid geostrategic and geo-economic variables in the US-Japan-China triangle, at a time when regional order is fragmented and global governance is heavily contested.
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• Published: 21 February, 2020

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr. Titli Basu’s article titled, ‘India’s Northeast is the gateway to greater Indo-Pacific engagement’ has been published in East Asia Forum on January 31, 2020.

India’s Northeastern states - a strategic plank situated between Delhi and Southeast Asia over the Bay of Bengal - anchor the convergence of Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision and India’s Act East policy. The article explores the contours of India-Japan cooperation in terms of infrastructure financing in the Northeast, one of the key frontiers in India’s Indo-Pacific engagement.

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• Published: 31 January, 2020

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr Titli Basu’s article on Japan, titled, ‘Japan’s Security Choices in an Uncertain East Asia' was published in ‘The Diplomat’ on January 17, 2020.

As Japan reorients it’s exclusively defense oriented post-War security posture within the conceptual framework of positive pacifism, this in turn makes its East Asian neighbors anxious as the region struggles with toxic history, intensified nationalism, contested sovereignty claims in addition to the existing Cold War structures. The key concern for East Asian states is: what kind of Japan will the region have to deal with in the coming decades? The article evaluates the answer to this question and looks into various alternatives in terms of a nuclear Japan/alliance security dilemma/a normal Japan/a more autonomous Japan.

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• Published: 17 January, 2020

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr. Titli Basu’s article titled, ‘India in Japan’s Strategic Thinking: Charting Convergences in the Indo-Pacific' was published in The Diplomat on January 03, 2020.

As Japan envisions its role as a leading promoter of international rules, underpinned by alliances of democracies, where does India fit in its strategic thinking? This article situates India in Japan's strategic articulations, looks into the key policy documents of Tokyo and locates India in its strategic outlook. Furthermore, the article charts India-Japan convergences in terms of maritime security and strategic infrastructure building in the Indo-Pacific.

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• Published: 3 January, 2020

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr. Titli Basu’s research paper titled, ‘Geo-economic Contest in Southeast Asia: Great Power Politics through the Prism of Trade, Investments and Aid’ was published in The SAGE Handbook of Asian Foreign Policy, edited by Takashi Inoguchi, 465-499. London: SAGE Publications, 2019.

Situating the study in Sino-US strategic rivalry, the paper evaluates how major powers employ instruments of economic statecraft including trade, investments, development aid and infrastructure financing in pursuit of their respective national interests and strategic objectives in the Southeast Asian theatre? The paper analyses trends in trade and investments towards the region; politics of developmental aid; and further evaluates agenda-setting and politics of exclusion in regional economic integration through mega-FTAs. Aligning with the larger geopolitical ambitions of major powers, it explores the fierce contest for infrastructure financing in Southeast Asia and decodes China’s AIIB challenge to Bretton Woods system. Subsequently it unpacks the differences in Chinese and Japanese approach to infrastructure building with special focus on High Speed Railway (HSR) and strategic port building.

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• Published: 16 December, 2019

While Japan envisions its role as a leading promoter of rules-based liberal international order, the G20 tested Japan’s leadership in championing the cause of trade liberalisation and resisting protectionism.

• Published: July 12, 2019
• IDSA Comments

As the East Asian regional order becomes fragmented, how is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe managing Tokyo’s strategic interests within the US-Japan-China relations?

• Published: January 17, 2019
• Issue Brief

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr Titli Basu’s research article, ‘Debating Security in Japan ’ was published in The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 4, December 2018, 533－557.

With the objective of understanding Japan’s post–war security orientation, this article critically analyses the competing schools of thought in the security policy debate, traces the inter-school and intra-school fault lines dominating the security discourse throughout the Cold War and post-Cold War era, and further evaluates how the political elites have pursued their contending agendas, specially exploring the case of Shinzo Abe.

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• Published: 3 December, 2018

Three key developments unfolded in Japan in August 2018: the Ministry of Defence (MOD) released its annual Defence White Paper; requested a 2.1 per cent increase in the 2019 budget; and instituted an Exploratory Committee on the Future of Self Defence Forces (SDF) with the objective of reviewing the current National Defence Program Guidelines (NDPG) and the Mid-Term Defence Program (MTDP). Analysing these developments in the backdrop of Prime Minister Abe’s top priorities—managing the United States (US)-Japan alliance under the Trump Presidency and delivering on the ‘great responsibility’ of redefining Japanese post-war security orientation—unpacks Tokyo’s key challenges. These are, essentially, balancing between sharing greater burden within the alliance framework to ensure regional security on one hand, and weighing regional sensitivities and deeply fractured domestic constituencies on the other.

• Published: October-December 2018
• Journal of Defence Studies