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

Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices