This week on Conflicted, Thomas is joined by T.V. Paul, Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University.

Prof. Paul is one of the world’s leading thinkers in international relations and author of Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era and The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Thomas speaks with Prof. Paul about:

India’s strategy as a rising power in a shifting multipolar world

How ‘soft balancing’ works as an alternative to military alliances

The benign and malign dimensions of American hegemony

Why globalization both empowered and destabilized the global middle class

India’s complex status anxiety and its quest for recognition

How China and India navigate rivalry, nationalism, and regional threats

The future of the liberal international order—and whether it can survive

What a new global settlement might require from the West, China, and India alike

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