Comment & Briefs

Colombo Security Conclave, a maritime security oriented sub-regional grouping, is emerging as a promising platform through which India can demonstrate its commitment and credibility for becoming the ‘Preferred Security Partner’ for the smaller nations in the Indian Ocean Region.

While the end state of the Russia–Ukraine conflict is still afar, an analysis of the conflict and war fighting so far, shows that there are enough early lessons for the strategic and military practitioners to decipher and take note of.

With the war in Ukraine moving towards an uncertain resolution, there is a danger that the influx of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters could bring in a new set of imponderables into an already vicious and escalating conflict.

While the US, Japan and Australia have taken an overtly critical stand towards Russia at the UN, India has abstained from all the UN resolutions condemning Russia. Will divergent views over the Ukrainian crisis weaken the Quad, is a pertinent question being examined in this issue brief.

The crises in Bosnia have put the nation on red alert and could lead to a major conflict or civil war, if the issues are not resolved soon. Any political instability can fan ideas of disintegration and separation and take Bosnia back to the civil war era and ethnic conflicts, devastation and loss of life.

India’s Arctic Policy can be seen as the first step towards developing a whole-of-government approach on India’s engagement with the region. The policy seems to be inclusive and participative wherein India offers its readiness to “play its part and contribute to the global good”.

With the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence, the weapons of war are becoming more technologically equipped, which is changing the battlefield scenarios, as seen in Russia’s current incursion in Ukraine.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the expansion of energy routes and suppliers has assumed increased urgency not only for Poland but EU as a whole. To what extent this diversification of supply chain will reduce Poland’s overt reliance on Russia, remains to be seen.

This backgrounder attempts to understand, trace, and analyse the evolving nature of transnational terrorism, modus operandi, and security threats posed by the two infamous terrorist organisations of Africa namely Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram with their various factions due to their transnational classification.

As Yoon Suk-yeol takes charge amid global disorder and deep domestic divide, his legacy will be defined by how well he succeeds in effectively walking the talk of positioning Seoul front and centre in shaping a rules-based order in Indo-Pacific.