Asian Defence Review 2022: Diplomacy in Turmoil: A Year of Turbulence

Asian region in the year gone by, in addition to second wave of Covid-19, faced multiple challenges in almost every field, ranging from political disruption, economic crisis, return of Taliban to power and diplomatic uncertainty associated with it. The events ranged at one end from changing dimensions of India-China military standoff, military coup in Malaysia, and US withdrawal from Afghanistan to events like vaccine diplomacy, medical aid collaboration, cyber security and sharing of critical resources for economic growth in the region. Keeping pace with the rapid development of events in the region and resulting instability, Asian Defence Review (ADR) 2022 is focusing on impact of these events on relations amongst the neighbouring nations of the region. This issue of the ADR covers the theme "Diplomacy in Turmoil: A Year of Turbulence" divided into three sections. The first section focuses on the major quests for military pre-dominance and geo-economic competition; the second section traces the factors that defined-redefined the geopolitical forces in Asia; and the third section analyzes the diplomatic sway amidst the turmoil in the region. Effectively we cover the entire regional arc from West Asia to Indo-Pacific, emerging global concern, and the outlook for future.

Air Marshal Anil Chopra PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM (Retd), is a fighter pilot, test pilot, and a pioneer of the Mirage-2000 fleet, who has commanded a Mirage 2000 Squadron and the Flight Test Centre, Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) of the Indian Air Force (IAF). He was the Team Leader of the MiG 21 Bison Upgrade project in Russia, and has commanded operational air bases in both the Western and Eastern Sectors. He was the recipient of four Presidential awards and the Gandhi Family Peace Medal for his work in J&K.