India (further) dividing Kashmir. You've probably heard about Democrats and Republicans tweaking US congressional districts to ensure easy wins, yet make the electoral map overall less competitive. Now India is doing something similar to favor Hindus over Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, a region long disputed with Pakistan. Majority-Muslim Kashmir — besides being the title of Led Zeppelin’s third greatest song — is bigger, has more natural resources, and has been the center of much of the decades-old insurgency against Delhi. But smaller Jammu has a slim Hindu majority, which PM Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government wants to give more parliamentary power than their official population merits by redrawing electoral maps. This has triggered a new communal divide in a historically tense area, which two years ago was stripped of its autonomy by Modi. Since then Kashmir has “welcomed” over half a million Indian troops and imprisoned more politicians than ever before, but gerrymandering could be a step too far. Even Kashmiri officials who have historically sided with Delhi are speaking against the measures, warning of further unrest if such divisive policies are implemented.
Gotta maximize sleigh-holder value. #PUPPETREGIME
On Ask Ian, Ian Bremmer breaks down the steady escalation of US pressure on Venezuela and why direct military action is now a real possibility.
From civil conflicts to trade wars to the rise of new technologies, GZERO runs through the stories that have shaped this year in geopolitics.
Ukrainian intelligence services assassinated a senior Russian general on the streets of Moscow on Monday, detonating a bomb strapped to his car.