Saileshchauhan at 01:37, 3 March 2026

2026-03-03T01:37:26Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian geostrategist and writer}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brahma Chellaney
| image = chellaney.jpg
| caption = Chellaney in 2009
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|18 January 1962}}
| birth_place = [[New Delhi, India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Academic and public intellectual
| alma_mater = [[Hindu College, Delhi]]<br> [[Delhi School of Economics]]<br> [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]]
| networth =
| spouse =
| children =
| website = [http://chellaney.net/ chellaney.net]
}}
'''Brahma Chellaney''' (born 18 January 1962) is an Indian [[geostrategist]] and columnist.<ref name=Weiss>{{citation |author=Stanley A. Weiss |title=Whom Do Sanctions Hurt |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 February 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/opinion/20iht-edweiss.1.20331049.html |id={{ProQuest|2220509275}}}}</ref><ref name=Georgetown>{{cite web |url=http://www.press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/water |title=Water: Asia's New Battleground |publisher=Georgetown University Press |date=2013}}</ref> He is a professor of strategic studies at the [[Centre for Policy Research]] in New Delhi; a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin; and an affiliate with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. He was a member of India's National Security Advisory Board and an author of its draft nuclear doctrine.<ref name="Nature"/> He is a regular columnist for [[Project Syndicate]],<ref name="Project Syndicate">{{cite news |title=Columnist Brahma Chellaney |newspaper=Project Syndicate |url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/brahma-chellaney}}</ref> and writes for numerous other international publications.

==Education and career==
Chellaney was born in New Delhi. After passing the [[Senior Cambridge]] examination at [[Mount St. Mary's School, India]], he did a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from [[Hindu College, University of Delhi]] and a [[Master of Arts]] from the [[Delhi School of Economics]]. He holds a PhD in international studies from the [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]].<ref name=CPR/>

He is a Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based [[Centre for Policy Research]]; a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow with the [[Robert Bosch Academy]] in Berlin; and a nonresident affiliate with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at [[King's College London]].<ref name=Rajaratnam/> In the mid-2000s, he was a member of the Indian government's Policy Advisory Group, which was chaired by the External Affairs Minister of [[India]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brahma Chellaney (Guest Speaker) |publisher=Wilson Center |date=12 September 2011|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/brahma-chellaney |accessdate=21 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=25th Anniversary Debate |publisher=United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research |date=5 February 2006 |accessdate=9 January 2020 |url=https://www.unidir.org/html/en/25th_anniversary.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205142924/https://www.unidir.org/html/en/25th_anniversary.html |archive-date=5 February 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Before that, he was an adviser to India’s National Security Council, serving as convener of the External Security Group of the National Security Advisory Board.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brahma Chellaney: India's hydro-diplomacy with Pakistan, Bangladesh and China |publisher=Global Water Forum |date=30 August 2019 |url=https://globalwaterforum.org/2019/08/30/brahma-chellaney-indias-hydro-diplomacy-with-pakistan-bangladesh-and-china/}}</ref>

==Career==
Chellaney was described in ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1999 as "one of the independent experts who helped draft India's proposed nuclear doctrine".<ref>
{{cite web |author=Brahma Chellaney |title=India, Too, Has a Right to Credible Nuclear Deterrence |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1 September 1999 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/01/opinion/IHT-india-too-has-a-right-to-credible-nuclear-deterrence.html}}</ref><ref name="Nature">{{cite journal |author1=Zia Mian |author2=M. V. Ramana |title=Where nuclear weapons come before basic needs |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/45373 |journal=Nature |date=16 December 1999|volume=402 |issue=6763 |page=722 |doi=10.1038/45373 |bibcode=1999Natur.402..722M }}</ref> The country's draft nuclear doctrine was publicly released in August 1999.<ref>
{{cite web |title=Draft Report of National Security Advisory Board on Indian Nuclear Doctrine |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |date=17 August 1999 |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/india/doctrine/990817-indnucld.htm}}</ref> The institutions where he has held appointments include [[Harvard University]], the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the [[Brookings Institution]], the [[Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies]] at the [[Johns Hopkins University]], and the [[Australian National University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brahma Chellaney |publisher=Robert Bosch Academy |date= |accessdate=21 December 2019 |url=http://www.robertboschacademy.de/content/language2/html/53215.asp}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=25th Anniversary Debate |publisher=United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research |date=5 February 2006 |url=https://www.unidir.org/html/en/25th_anniversary.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205142924/https://www.unidir.org/html/en/25th_anniversary.html |archive-date=5 February 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Graham Tobin from the University of South Florida has as described Chellaney’s geopolitical analyses as astute and critical.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tobin |first1=Graham |title=Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis by Brahma Chellaney |journal=Journal of Latin American Geography |date=January 2014 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=257-259 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|doi=10.1353/lag.2014.0051 |s2cid=145367818 }}</ref>

Chellaney coined the term [[debt-trap diplomacy]] to describe how the Chinese government leverages the debt burden of smaller countries for geopolitical ends.<ref>
{{citation |title=China and Africa: Debt-Trap Diplomacy? |author=Heather Zeiger |newspaper=Mind Matters |date=13 November 2020 |url=https://mindmatters.ai/2020/11/china-and-africa-debt-trap-diplomacy/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Brahma Chellaney |title=China's Debt-Trap Diplomacy |newspaper=Project Syndicate |date=23 January 2017 |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-one-belt-one-road-loans-debt-by-brahma-chellaney-2017-01}}</ref> He saw 'debt trap diplomacy' in China's handling of Sri Lanka's debt distress by taking over its [[Hambantota port]] on a long-term lease.<ref>{{Citation |last=Chellaney |first=Brahma |date=2017-12-21 |title=China's creditor imperialism |url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/chinas-creditor-imperialism/1 |newspaper=The Strategist}}</ref> The thesis caught on and began to be used widely, becoming "something approaching conventional wisdom", especially in Washington DC.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sebastian Srangio |title=Inside China's Belt and Road Tangle |newspaper=The Diplomat |date=1 September 2020 |url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/inside-chinas-belt-and-road-tangle/}}</ref> Other scholars have disputed the assessment, and the "myth of debt trap", arguing that Chinese finance was not the source of Sri Lanka’s financial distress.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Lee |last1=Jones |first2=Shahar |last2=Hameiri |title=Debunking the myth of 'debt trap' |at=4. Sri Lanka and the BRI |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/08/debunking-myth-debt-trap-diplomacy/4-sri-lanka-and-bri |date=2020-08-19 |website=Chatham House}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Carrai |first=Maria Adele |date=2021-06-05 |title=Questioning the Debt-Trap Diplomacy Rhetoric surrounding Hambantota Port |url=https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/06/05/questioning-the-debt-trap-diplomacy-rhetoric-surrounding-hambantota-port/ |website=Georgetown Journal of International Affairs}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Rithmire |first2=Deborah |last2=Brautigam |first1=Meg |date=2021-02-06 |title=The Chinese 'Debt Trap' Is a Myth |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/02/china-debt-trap-diplomacy/617953/ |newspaper=The Atlantic}}</ref>

==Publications==
Chellaney is the author of nine books.<ref name=CPR>{{cite web |title=Brahma Chellaney |publisher=Center for Policy Research |accessdate=21 December 2019 |url=http://www.cprindia.org/users/brahma-chellaney}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brahma Chellaney |publisher=Nikkei Asian Review |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Brahma-Chellaney |accessdate=17 March 2020}}</ref>

* ''Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan'', [[HarperCollins]] USA, 2010. {{isbn|9780061987625}}
* ''Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis'', [[Rowman & Littlefield]], 2015.<ref>{{cite news |author=G. John Ikenberry |title=Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis |newspaper=Foreign Affairs |date=21 October 2013 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2013-10-21/water-peace-and-war-confronting-global-water-crisis}}</ref>
* ''Water: Asia's New Battleground'', [[Georgetown University Press]], 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Water: Asia's New Battleground |author=Andrew J. Nathan |newspaper=Foreign Affairs |date=1 November 2011 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2011-11-01/water-asia-s-new-battleground }}</ref>

Two of his most recent books relate to the geopolitics of water resources. Another book, an international best-seller, focuses on how a fast-rising Asia has become the defining fulcrum of global geopolitical change.<ref name=Rajaratnam>{{cite web |title=The S.T. Lee Distinguished Annual Lecture by Professor Brahma Chellaney |publisher=S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies |date=30 October 2018 |url=https://www.rsis.edu.sg/event/the-s-t-lee-distinguished-annual-lecture-by-professor-brahma-chellaney-professor-of-strategic-studies-centre-for-policy-research-new-delhi/}}</ref>

==Reception==

Chellaney was criticized by Chinese state-owned media outlet the ''[[Global Times]]'' for indirectly accusing China of having involvement in the death of [[Bipin Rawat]]. The Global Times described Chellaney as a "conspiracy theorist".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/world/china-slams-conspiracy-theory-over-cds-chopper-crash/ | title=China slams conspiracy theory over CDS chopper crash | date=10 December 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deccanherald.com/world/chinas-state-affiliated-media-says-death-of-gen-rawat-in-chopper-crash-exposes-india-s-lack-of-combat-preparedness-1059331.html | title=China's state-affiliated media says death of Gen Rawat in chopper crash exposes India's lack of combat preparedness }}</ref>

Chellaney received the $20,000 Bernard Schwartz Award from the New York-based [[Asia Society]] for his work, ''Water: Asia's New Battleground'', published by Georgetown University Press. The award recognises outstanding contributions regarding contemporary Asian affairs and US-Asia relations.<ref name="Hindu award">{{cite news |title=Brahma Chellaney wins Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award |newspaper=The Hindu Business Line |date=25 October 2012 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/Brahma-Chellaney-wins-Asia-Society-Bernard-Schwartz-Book-Award/article20519053.ece}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Brahma Chellaney}}
* [http://chellaney.net/ Stagecraft and Statecraft]: Brahma Chellaney's website

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chellaney, Brahma}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian academics]]
[[Category:Hindu College, Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni]]
[[Category:Indian columnists]]
[[Category:Geopoliticians]]

Brahma Chellaney - Revision history

Saileshchauhan at 01:37, 3 March 2026