In this week’s episode, Mariana is joined by Hameed Hakimi from the Asia-Pacific Programme to discuss the implications of the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. They consider, among other things, the strength of Afghan governance structures, the prospects for the Taliban, and the complexity of responding to widespread population movement in the region.
Then Amrit speaks to Debashish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane about the state of Indian democracy under PM Narendra Modi. Their latest book, To Kill A Democracy, describes India’s daily struggles for democratic survival, and explains how lived social injustices and unfreedoms rob elections of their meaning, while at the same time feeding the decadence and iron-fisted rule of its governing institutions.