The drivers for sustaining the decades-long growth of the Chinese economy are the subject of enduring conjecture, controversy and even wonder. From a US$1 trillion economy in the 1980s, China's GDP has crossed the US$4 trillion mark and is vying with Japan for the status of the number two economy in the world. China has now set itself the task of becoming a major research and development (R&D) power in the medium-term, signalling its ‘arrival’ as a major power.

• Smita Purushottam
• July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

Sixty years for a human being may mean looking back, 1 taking stock of things and preparing to retire from active life. But for a nation it means more than just looking back to the path traversed. It involves looking to the future with confidence. Sixty years of India–China relations raises the significant question whether the two Asian giants could look to their bilateral relations with confidence.

• Abanti Bhattacharya
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

• Jagannath P. Panda
• January 2009
• Strategic Analysis

The 12th Malaysian general elections have been significant in more ways than one. Most importantly, the opposition unity combined with the grievance vote of the ethnic minorities challenged the United Malays National Organisation hegemony long prevalent in Malaysian politics. The Bersih rally and Hindraf agitation that saw large-scale mobilisation before the elections also points to the active participation of civil society.

• Pankaj K Jha
• January 2009
• Strategic Analysis

• Abanti Bhattacharya
• March 2009
• Strategic Analysis

This article intends to examine the notion of 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA) in China and how the People's Liberation Army (zhongguo renmin jiefangjun) is thrusting RMA initiatives on its modernization programme. It sheds light on the issue of China's 'RMA-Driven Military Modernization' programme and situates the effect of these initiatives in the Indian context.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• March 2009
• Strategic Analysis

From a geopolitical perspective, Central Asia is one of the most important regions of the world due to its impact over great powers. At the outset, it should be made clear that the Central Asian states are the host of this region, and that great powers cannot dominate the region. The relations of great powers, mentioned in this commentary, are just taken as an analytical frame.

• Zhao Huasheng
• July 2009
• Strategic Analysis

Democracy came to Taiwan under the leadership of Chiang Ching-Kuo, which brought an end to almost four decades of one-party dictatorship. Chiang Kai?Shek had harboured the dream of overtaking the whole of China and establishing the rule of Kuomintang (KMT). But with the passage of time and a shift in the international political scenario, he realized that this would not be possible.

• Gunjan Singh
• September 2009
• Strategic Analysis

This article explains how growing economic interests have made China and India more prone to various non-traditional security threats in their neighbourhood. It examines whether this evolution has led both countries to mitigate their struggle for influence in favour of security cooperation, and found that despite shared security interests, China and India are not able to overcome mutual distrust. The conclusions are that the quest for short-term gains impedes substantial security cooperation and that economic ambitions have added new impetus to the regional struggle for influence.

• Jonathan Holslag
• September 2009
• Strategic Analysis

One of the most notable attempts by Japan towards fostering regionalism in recent years has been through its active and positive participation in the East Asia Summit (EAS), envisioned to be a stepping stone towards the formation of an East Asian Community (EAC). The idea behind regionalism and efforts towards the EAS and EAC are to be perceived within the broader context of Tokyo's attempts to shape the regional environment and influence policies in the region. Its primary goal is to neutralize and dilute the influence of China.

• Arpita Mathur
• September 2009
• Strategic Analysis

The vision document considers maritime security cooperation as a lynchpin in the MSR and attempts to redesign the existing maritime security architecture in the oceanic arena of MSR.

• Abhay Kumar Singh
• June 28, 2017
• Issue Brief

A rational decision maker in the White House does not have all options on the table and cannot start a war without South Korea’s consent. Diplomacy is the only option and this is as obvious as obvious can be.

• K. P. Fabian
• May 03, 2017
• IDSA Comments

The strategic dialogue should focus on the fundamentals of shared beliefs and political culture, and be supported by widespread engagement at the provincial, governmental and academic levels.

• M.S. Prathibha
• March 29, 2017
• IDSA Comments

It is time to engage in a dialogue process not just for enhancing strategic trust but also to think more cunningly about how to benefit from China’s riches by gaining access to Chinese credit and technology, and securing markets for Indian products.

• P. Stobdan
• March 21, 2017
• IDSA Comments

AIIB is a Chinese dominated bank and the Chinese excitement about AIIB is based on the control and strategic clout that Beijing, the bank’s main architect, wields over its functioning.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• March 21, 2017
• Issue Brief

India should seek to ‘redefine’ OROB to add a strong component for a ‘Digital Asia’, as that is where our comparative advantage lies, and for Asian connectivity to have two nodes, in China and in India, as has been the case throughout history.

• Mukul Sanwal
• September 29, 2016
• IDSA Comments

India needs to engage more pointedly with South Korea, Japan, the United States and even bilaterally with DPRK to convey its concerns regarding the latter’s strategic cooperation with Pakistan.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• September 27, 2016
• IDSA Comments

Furthering the premise of an increasingly severe security environment, Japan’s latest defence white paper has accorded relatively more space to its ‘strong concerns’ over China’s ‘active maritime expansion’ as well as progress in North Korea’s missile development programme.

• Titli Basu
• August 22, 2016
• IDSA Comments

ROK is employing an effective combination of gifting equipment combined with joint ventures with local industry, which has the dual effect of increasing exports and forging partnerships with domestic industries in a region where it has hitherto had a very minimal defence relationship.

• Sanjay Badri-Maharaj
• August 19, 2016
• IDSA Comments

China’s push for influence among the Caribbean political elite has been replicated with an equally determined effort to court the military and the bureaucratic elite in the region, often deftly stepping in to take advantage of senseless overreactions on the part of the United States.

• Sanjay Badri-Maharaj
• August 03, 2016
• IDSA Comments