Crowdsourced Intelligence vs. AI Propaganda: The Challenges of Global Governance in the Age of Digital Warfare

Authors : Umrah Fatima, Manya Saraf

Abstract :

This research paper seeks to examine the serious economic implications of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Iran conflict in comparison, concentrating particularly on their disruptive consequences for global economic activities. However, while most of the extant literature studies the above mentioned geopolitical situations separately, the current paper attempts to bridge a major research gap by comparing them in one single frame of reference. Using the qualitative approach based on the thematic analysis of secondary data
from international sources, the paper reveals that regional tensions result in extensive economic instability in our highly interconnected world. Notable observations suggest that both the disputes have caused serious fluctuations in energy prices, congestion of the seas atnkey strategic chokepoints, and inflationary pressure across the globe. Moreover, it is important to note that the analysis highlights the significant vulnerability of the Global South, where dependency on food, fuel, and raw materials from other countries has made their
currencies devalue and made them vulnerable to food shortages and debt repayment burdens.

Keywords:
Geopolitical Conflicts, Global Economy, Russia-Ukraine War, Israel-Iran Conflict, Energy Market, Supply Chain Disruptions, Inflationary Pressures, International Trade Global South, Interdependence.

Authors : Nandiinii Gupta , Aanvi Kapoor , Bhumi Goyal , Khushal Goel , Lumbini Anand , Venika Sai Talluri

ABSTRACT

The Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 changed the way India and China saw each other. It began as a military clash along the Line of Actual Control, but its effects went beyond that of a border conflict. It changed how both countries talked about security, how they built their narratives, and how they acted toward one another. This study analyses this shift through the lens of power, rhetoric and perception. It aims to understand how China’s image as a threat changed within India’s foreign policy after Galwan. In order to provide a clearer picture, the study compares Galwan to the 2017 Doklam standoff. It draws on public statements, official press releases, and parliamentary records from both India and China, examining them for shifts in tone, recurring themes, and how each country described the other’s intentions. The findings show that both India and China constructed threats by blaming the other side’s intentions. Each used existing bilateral agreements selectively, framing them in ways that supported its own position. Both also pointed to the other’s infrastructure projects as evidence of an attempt to alter the existing situation on the ground. One key difference between the two crises lies in how they ended. Doklam was resolved through diplomatic talks, and both sides were able to present the outcome as a success. Galwan did not end this way. It led instead to a prolonged military stand-off, in which the confidence-building measures that had once been trusted lost their credibility rather than restoring it. Drawing on Walt’s Balance of Threat Theory, the study argues that the shift in India’s perception of China after Galwan was greater than what military economic changes alone could explain. This suggests that perception, shaped by narrative and rhetoric, played a role as significant as material capability itself. Briefly, the shift in India’s view of China was not just about power. It was about how India and China told stories about each other, and how those stories reshaped the way India came to see China as a threat.

KEYWORDS:
Indo-China relations, Galwan Crisis, Threat Construction, Balance of Threat Theory, Strategic Rhetoric, Realism, Line of Actual Control (LAC), Narrative and Perception