This is Nitin Pai's cyberspace.

What I’m up to now: pursuits, talks, engagements.
Contact: @acorn.

I’m interested in coffee, philosophy, sharp objects, public policy, tech and stationery.

You are in the structured section of my domain where I have my blog posts, newspaper columns, updates on my teaching and research, and other things you had always been warned about.

▸ Check out my book: The Nitopadesha: Moral Tales for Good Citizens.⭐

▸ I have recently been writing about: ☼ information agehyperdiversityliberal democracyeconomicsCovid-19philosophy and everything else

▸ In these columns: ☼ MintDebates with my DaughtersThe PrintThe HinduPragatiPax IndicaSakal

The Acorn
Estd 2003
Recent posts:

Who is responsible for the Ukraine war, and who is its winner?
Regardless of the military outcome, alas, no one wins this war. Everyone loses. The only difference might be who loses more and relative to whom. | 13th Mar 2022

Putin’s invasion of China marks the biggest failure of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy
The Ukraine war is not merely an embarrassment for Xi ahead of China’s Communist Party session later this year. It is a damning indictment of his foreign policy. | 25th Feb 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is marked by a big Chinese failure
How Vladimir Putin jumped the gun and jeopardised Xi Jinping's global ambitions | 24th Feb 2022

russia nato ukraine information warfare
Major cyber offensives may be unlikely but information operations are in full swing | 14th Feb 2022

How can India become a global technological power?
It is by being an indispensible part of the eco-system that will ensure India has both access to technology and, to some extent, the ability to control access to technology. | 13th Feb 2022

State administrative services are crucial to federalism
More than transfers of elite civil servants, it the systemic inability of India’s states to recruit adequate numbers of public officials that is the bigger scandal | 31st Jan 2022

Major powers are extending their spheres of influence
India must project both its power and its values to shape the new world order. | 23rd Jan 2022

The co-evolution of genes and culture is revolutionizing policy
Remembering Edward O. Wilson -- and how insights from evolutionary biology can explain how we got here and what we must do to be better | 17th Jan 2022

Open source is in India’s national interest
India can limit the power of transnational technology firms and foreign governments by promoting open source software development. | 3rd Jan 2022

Geopolitics of the Information Age
It will be the objective of this column to discuss with you, dear reader, the geopolitics of the Information Age, and to chart the best course for India during this yuganta. | 2nd Jan 2022

2021 - The Year in Fiction
My favourite books of fiction of 2021 | 31st Dec 2021

Interrogating the Deep State
My conversation with Josy Joseph at the Bangalore Literature Festival | 22nd Dec 2021

Insurgencies can be defeated by strengthening democratic and federal politics
AFSPA is a red herring. Restructuring the Rajya Sabha will better address states' grievances | 20th Dec 2021

The contest to create the web’s third generation has intensified
The internet is being reshaped by market rivalry, state control, geopolitics and a social backlash | 6th Dec 2021

We should support a global ban on destructive anti-satellite tests
Reckless behaviour by as responsible a space power as Russia calls for action to preserve humanity's access to space | 22nd Nov 2021

Cautious re-globalisation through bubbles of trust
The Quad must take a strategic approach to economic interdependence and take a middle path between the extremes of technological sovereignty and laissez-faire globalisation | 12th Nov 2021

Decarbonisation will change geopolitics
The global balance of power will shift before the world can change its outdated political structure. Therein lies the problem. | 8th Nov 2021

The unlikeliness of a directed microwave weapon
I am not convinced that there is a directed electromagnetic energy weapon involved. | 8th Nov 2021

Reframing the social media policy debate
The case for cognitive autonomy and to move from attempting "social media regulations" to "online social reform". | 26th Oct 2021

Amid the new US-China missile rivalry
India must propose a Global No First Use Treaty to reduce risks while investing in space situational awareness & technological capabilities to secure itself | 25th Oct 2021

The coming regulation of social media is an opportunity for India
India's competitive advantage in the tech economy has always been high quality human capital at scale. The challenge now is to create millions of people who can exercise good judgement in addition to writing great code. | 11th Oct 2021

On strategic autonomy
Strategic autonomy is not about refusing to take sides in itself; but rather avoiding getting into situations where taking sides means losing the capacity for independent action. | 5th Oct 2021

Towards an Indian strategy for the Information Age
Key points from the chapter in "India's Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift" | 4th Oct 2021



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