The Indian Ocean has long been a hub of great power rivalry and the struggle for its domination has been a perennial feature of global politics. It is the third largest of the world's five oceans and touches Asia in the north, Africa in the west, Indo-China in the east, and Antarctica in the south. Home to four critical access waterways—the Suez Canal, Bab-el Mandeb, the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca—the Indian Ocean connects the Middle East, Africa and East Asia with Europe and the Americas.

• Harsh V. Pant
• May 2012
• Strategic Analysis

Though the original focus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was primarily economic cooperation, the adoption of the ASEAN charter in November 2007 officially included cooperation on human rights. This article examines three hypotheses to determine the causes of cooperation problems: regime type, non-interference policy, and absence of an enforcement mechanism in the ASEAN charter.

• Nehginpao Kipgen
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

China is a thirsty country desperately in need of water—a lot of it. In order to meet its water and energy requirements in the densely populated and fertile northern plains, it is successively making interventions in the Tibetan rivers in the southern part through dams and diversions. While China is well within its riparian rights to do so, a set of externalities involving the principles of water-sharing and lower riparian needs—stretching from Afghanistan to Vietnam—raise concerns.

• Uttam Kumar Sinha
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

Writings on India–China relations in recent years are increasingly seen to be imputing Machiavellian realism to the political and, increasingly, economic sphere of interaction.

• Joe Thomas Karackattu
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

China is gradually increasing its economic and commercial presence in Eastern Europe by signing bilateral agreements with countries that are still in transition, some of which are members of the European Union (EU).

• Richard Rousseau
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

The recent fad among Western security commentaries is to portray India as a natural member of East Asian political life.

• Zorawar Daulet Singh
• January 2012
• Strategic Analysis

The central focus of this article is to understand the evolution of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's engagement with UN peacekeeping operations in the light of China's military diplomacy. The article underlines that the PLA works as a foreign policy instrument in UN peacekeeping operations and furthers China's foreign policy agenda in many ways.

• Prashant Kumar Singh
• September 2011
• Strategic Analysis

The responses to the arguments that I forwarded in my initial essay, ‘China in SAARC? To What Effect?’, have introduced interesting dimensions to this debate. While most of the respondents have agreed with my proposition that it is premature to think about China's entry into the South Asian regionalist project and that it would introduce complex challenges that would be difficult to manage, they disagree with some of the reasons that I have cited.

• Sujit Dutta
• May 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Is democracy a criterion for the membership of SAARC? It is not. One should not forget that it was General Zia ur Rahman, president of Bangladesh, who had initiated regional cooperation as a part of his strategy to diversify Bangladesh's Indo-centric foreign policy after Sheikh Mujib's assassination. The grouping in the beginning had two monarchs from Nepal and Bhutan, two military dictators from Pakistan and Bangladesh, and one authoritarian ruler from the Maldives, apart from India and Sri Lanka which were democracies as member countries.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• May 2011
• Strategic Analysis

‘China in SAARC: To What Effect?’ is a detailed article and the author has elaborated the modest achievements of SAARC despite its 25 years of existence. One of the foremost problems in the regional grouping has been a restricted charter which desperately needs a revision.

• Nishchal Nath Pandey
• May 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Certain sections of the elite in China seem to be speaking out against the tightening political control under President Xi Jinping. Whether the Chinese Communist Party is failing to elicit loyalty among its own members, and resorting to widespread ideological control to retain its legitimacy is a pertinent question to ponder upon.

• M.S. Prathibha
• September 13, 2021
• IDSA Comments

With House of Representatives’ four-year term ending in October, and a general election lined up in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party needs a leader who demonstrates statesmanship, political vision, boldness in imagining innovative policy responses, and who enjoys popular support.

• Titli Basu
• September 09, 2021
• IDSA Comments

Beijing’s stance on Afghanistan’s political crisis and its approach towards the Taliban regime is a critical variable that will shape the geometrics of the China–Taliban–Pakistan nexus versus India and the West.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• September 03, 2021
• Issue Brief

The COVID-19 pandemic has situated the policy conversation on economic security at the centre stage of national security calculus not just in US and Europe but also in Japan. For Japan, it would entail attaining “strategic autonomy” in critical supply chains at the national level, and pursuing “strategic indispensability” at the global level.

• Titli Basu
• August 25, 2021
• IDSA Comments

The Digital Silk Road can give China the power to shape global digital governance norms in its favour and the political, economic and strategic tools to be a technological hegemon, posing enormous challenges to emerging economies like India.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• August 24, 2021
• Issue Brief

Envisioned as a sustainable alternative to China’s BRI, US-led Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative seeks to narrow down infrastructure deficit in the developing world. However, with their several distinct areas of focus, BRI & B3W can possibly share both complementary & competitive equations.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• August 09, 2021
• Issue Brief

The drawbacks of over-reliance on China as a single manufacturing source has led to countries adopting “China Plus One” strategy to diversify supply networks. Whether Supply Chain Resilience Initiative by India-Japan-Australia can assist in partial decoupling from China is yet to be seen.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• July 26, 2021
• Issue Brief

The CCP has invested heavily in telling “China’s Story Well” by amplifying its discourse power. However, looking at China’s discourse politics from an absolutely narrow propaganda lens would be a folly, for the stakes for India are much higher, more nuanced and across multiple domains.

• Shruti Pandalai
• July 08, 2021
• Issue Brief

Xi’s rousing words at CCP’s centenary celebrations have reaffirmed China’s intentions to make every effort in actualising its domestic goals and global ambitions—without holding much regard for the rules-based order.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• July 07, 2021
• Issue Brief

Two key elections are approaching in Japan. As Prime Minister Suga seeks public mandate with just one year's report card amidst a pandemic, his political future is contingent on rapid inoculation and a successful Olympics.

• Titli Basu
• July 01, 2021
• IDSA Comments