{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/5eb41117570358cd673a3a85/5eb4114ce332dca21820918a?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Episode 5: From holiday destinations to vital nations? The new importance of South Asian islands","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/5eb41117570358cd673a3a85/a1f6b0cf99e0eae63af2daa0c3794450.jpg?height=200","description":"Viraj Solanki, IISS Research Analyst for South Asia, joins Dr Kori Schake for this episode of Sounds Strategic.\n\nViraj and Kori discuss the distinct breadth and depth of research produced by the IISS South Asia Programme. Viraj explains how recent events in the Maldives and Seychelles reflect a geopolitical renaissance for small island nations in South Asia.\n\nSet within the context of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Viraj highlights the new importance of small power relations and the scale of renewed engagement by China, India and the West. Kori and Viraj also discuss the future of the BRI and prospects for peace in Afghanistan in this wide-ranging discussion on the region.\n\nFavourite data visualisation:\n\nFinancial Times, How China rules the waves, January 2017\n\nReading recommendations:\n\nChristina Lamb, Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan to a More Dangerous World (London: William Collins Publishers, 2015)\n\nSteve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden (London: Penguin Books, 2005)\n\nDate of recording: 25 January 2019\n\nSounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.\n\nTheme music: ‘Safety in Numbers’ by We Were Promised Jetpacks.","author_name":"International Institute for Strategic Studies"}