AMISOM amidst the Dangers of Al-Shabaab It will be difficult to build a set of genuine national security forces when there is no widespread agreement on what constitutes the Somali ‘nation’ and how it should be governed. The future of Somalia thus hangs in balance. Aarushi Vikram January-June 2019 Africa Trends
South African President’s visit to India enhances relations South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to India provided an opportunity to honour the contribution of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi and reinvigorate India’s relations with South Africa, a strategic partner and a leading economic power in Africa. Ruchita Beri January-June 2019 Africa Trends
A lesson from crisis management in South Sudan The work for the Department of Peace Operations is thus amply clear. It must privilege the substantive side in its thinking as it approaches mandate making. This would ease the work of peacekeepers and contain the thrust in recent years towards a militarisation of peacekeeping under the cover of robust peacekeeping. Ali Ahmed January-June 2019 Africa Trends
India in Nuclear Asia: Evolution of Regional Forces, Perceptions and Policies In India in Nuclear Asia, authors Yogesh Joshi and Frank O’Donnell do a rigorous job of unpacking the layers that have constituted India’s nuclear journey, especially since going overtly nuclear in May 1998. They distil the key aspects pertaining to India’s nuclear force developments, the evolution and challenges facing its nuclear doctrine and the key rationales as they see underpinning New Delhi’s non-proliferation policies. S. Samuel C. Rajiv January-March 2019 Journal of Defence Studies
Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950–1980 Warriors, with courage and integrity as their distinguishing traits, have been always respected. Skilful warriors, such as military aviators, have created a special place for themselves in the society. In this class, a very small section of fighter pilots has an iconic status. Adages like ‘All men are born equal, then a few become fighter pilots’ support this perception. Kishore Kumar Khera January-March 2019 Journal of Defence Studies
An Era of True Fakes With increasing advances in artificial intelligence technologies and machine learning, a new era of deep fakes has emerged, which has the potential to weaken the fabric of democratic society. Kritika Roy January 10, 2019 IDSA Comments
Great Power Rivalry Reaches Africa With John Bolton conceding that the US has limited resources to compete with the tens of billions of dollars that China is pouring into Africa, it is not clear how effective America’s new Africa strategy would prove to be in containing China. Anand Kumar January 09, 2019 IDSA Comments
Biological Weapons: The Impact of New Technologies In June 2018, German police arrested a Tunisian man in Cologne for trying to build a biological weapon using the deadly toxin, ricin.1 In October 2018, researchers flagged a… Continue reading Biological Weapons: The Impact of New Technologies Shambhavi Naik January-June 2019 CBW Magazine
Turkey Treads a Fine Line in Syria In the light of Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, Ankara has adopted a cautious approach towards the Syrian Kurds and has decided to take Moscow’s concerns into account before making any move in northern Syria. Md. Muddassir Quamar January 04, 2019 IDSA Comments
Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos Article 108 of United Nations (UN) Charter states that the Charter can be amended if it is adopted by two-third members of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of the members of UN, including the five Permanent Members, also known as the P-5. Changing international dynamics and the need for including hitherto unrepresented quarters further call for the restructuring of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The role of UNSC has changed over the years and Hardeep Singh Puri’s book discusses the role of UNSC in resolving the crisis spanning Asia and Europe. Lakshmi Priya January-March 2019 Journal of Defence Studies