It would not be a cliche to describe the strategic contours of Asia as being at the crossroads of history. A number of significant events are influencing the likely course that the collective destiny of the region could possibly take in the future. Some of the key issues and trends have been analysed in this year’s Asian Strategic Review

This book is a compendium of papers presented and circulated in the International Seminar on Defence acquisition organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on July 12-14, 2011. Written by the practitioners, industry leaders and subject experts, the book brings out the best international practices in defence acquisition.

The Indian defence establishment is confronted today with what is probably its greatest challenge since Independence. Besides being prepared to wage conventional war on possibly two fronts simultaneously, our Armed Forces need to be geared to undertake this under a nuclear overhang and within a technological environment that encompasses cyber- and space-based threats. There is therefore an imperative requirement for change that would enable us to adapt to the emerging situation. The archaic organisations and processes put in place on achieving Independence must undergo radical overhaul.

The Pakistan Project of IDSA has come up with a second report titled Pakistan on the Edge. This Report takes into account various political developments in Pakistan focusing more on the events of the last two years and analyses its impact on the nation’s nascent democracy. The Report takes a broad view of the politics, emerging political alliances, economy, foreign policy, India-Pakistan relations and civil-military relations. Two chapters of this report focus on Pakistan’s English and Urdu language print media and how it looks at the critical issues of domestic and foreign policy.

This book is an attempt to examine the role, relevance and status of the armies in the ever dynamic socio-political milieu of the countries in India’s South Asian neighbourhood. The book deals with the national armies of seven South Asian countries bordering India, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The contributors to the volume also trace out the likely trajectory of the future role and position of the armies in the given or evolving national and geo-political settings.

This volume brings together views of some of the most eminent scholars and security analysts from South Asia on the challenges and prospects of a cooperative security framework (CSF) in the region. The objective of the volume is to generate debate on CSF and forge a consensus on the issue at the Track-II level. The contributions critically analyse such frameworks in different regions and explore whether it is possible and practicable in the South Asian region.

The report analyses previous deployments of the Indian military outside its borders, including in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), evacuation of Indian citizens from conflict zones and in active operations like Sri Lanka from 1987–90 and the Maldives in 1988. It then examines the current capacity and trends for executing such operations. Finally, it makes recommendations not only for the Armed Forces but for other relevant agencies as well, such as the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, the National Security Council and the Cabinet Secretariat.

This book explores the character and contours of the Asian Space Powers. At present, Asian states like China, Japan and India are found investing in space technologies with analogous social and scientific and probably with divergent military intents. Other Asian states like Israel, South Korea and Malaysia are also making investments in the space arena. States like Iran and North Korea are faulted for using space launches as a demonstrative tool to achieve strategic objectives. This work examines this entire maze of activities to unearth where these states are making these investments to accomplish their state-specific goal or are they also trying to surpass each other by engaging in competition.

Space technologies are critical to diverse human activities including communication, education, navigation, and remote sensing, meteorology disaster management and military. Naturally, keeping the space assets secure has become a major necessity for the states. Any damage to such assets would lead to excruciating consequences.

The image of Bangladesh of being a ‘moderate Muslim country’ was tarnished at the turn of the 20th century. The country known for its Sufi Islam was witnessing a spurt of Islamic radicalism. While delineating the threat posed by Islamic radicalism to Bangladeshi politics and by Indian insurgent groups to Northeast India, the book also focuses on their sources of finance. This book marks an advance over other works on the same topic as it discusses the actions taken by the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government to counter terrorism.