The arrest of Indian-origin strategist Ashley Tellis in the United States for allegedly retaining classified defence documents is more than a case of legal transgression; it is a sobering reminder of how fragile the architecture of strategic trust has become in an age of blurred loyalties and global entanglements. For decades, the man at the centre of this storm symbolised intellectual rigour and policy acumen ~ a bridge between Washington’s strategic elite and the emerging Asian order.

His fall from grace now exposes the tensions that lie beneath the façade of such globalised expertise. At the core of the case is not only the question of one individual’s alleged misconduct, but the uneasy intersection of national security and intellectual privilege. Think-tank scholars and defence advisers often straddle a grey zone ~ part analyst, part insider ~ moving between academia, government, and private consultancy. Their access to classified briefings and policy deliberations........

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