Negotiating for India (Lessons of Diplomacy) by Jagat Mehta Jagat Mehta joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in March 1947 before India became independent. In 1976, at the age of 53, he became India's first foreign secretary without an Indian civil service background. He retired in 1979. In the present book, the author discusses six negotiating assignments that he handled during his diplomatic career, pertaining to Bhutan, China, Uganda, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The book is a must read for those interested in India's diplomacy and diplomatic practices of the past. Arvind Gupta January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan, Harper Collins MJ. Akbar brings his English literature background, writing skills and experience as a journalist with a notable body of work behind him to bear on a topic that has been and remains central to the story of the subcontinent—the past and future of Pakistan. That he prefaces his title with tinderbox reveals his pessimism regarding Pakistan's future. For him, Pakistan can plausibly be characterised as a ‘toxic jelly’. Ali Ahmed January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Emerging Space Powers by Brian Harvey, Henk Smid and Theo Pirard Within the ever expanding genre of conflict and security-related literature, there is a less investigated field that pertains to futuristic technologies and the harnessing of science for the purposes of mass destruction and targeted warfare. This is the arena of space, the battlefield of major powers and the arena for power expansion into the extra-terrestrial. Ajey Lele January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks and Power in India by Robert S. Anderson Science and the Baconian spirit of scientific rationality have long inspired Indians, many of whom, including the country's first prime minister, regarded the superiority of Western science as the root cause of the subcontinent's subjection to foreign rule. Jayita Sarkar January 2012 Strategic Analysis
A Time Series Forecast of Geopolitical Market Concentration (GMC) Risk: An Analysis of the Crude Oil Diversification Portfolio of India The oil-rich Middle East region is always seen as a politically volatile region, but it has been the source of crude oil supply to all major consumers worldwide for decades. The article makes an empirical analysis of the geopolitical risk of India's diversification portfolio, which is skewed towards the Middle East. Neeladri Chatterjee January 2012 Strategic Analysis
The Delicate Balance: Israel and India’s Foreign Policy Practice India's foreign policy interactions with Israel are marked by a political discreetness which is in contrast to its prominent political engagement with the Palestinians and countries of the Arab world. India plays down its robust defence engagement with Israel, censures Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians, supports Palestinian-related resolutions at multi-lateral forums like the UN, differs strongly from Israeli policy on issues such as Iran's nuclear programme while being opposed to the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capability. S. Samuel C. Rajiv January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Velayat-e-Faqih (Supreme Leader) and Iranian Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis There has been an increasing assertion of the velayat-e-faqih in Iranian politics in recent years. This has led to tensions between them and the presidential office in Iran. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to analyse the constitutional position of the velayat-e-faqih and how it has interacted with other institutions to shape Iranian foreign policy. The article critically analyses the relationship between the velayat-e-faqih and different popularly elected presidents. M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Cooperation Problems on Human Rights 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
The Emerging Nuclear Security Regime: Challenges Ahead everal measures are being initiated by the international community to secure sensitive materials. Al Qaeda's open interest in acquiring nuclear weapons and the rise of terrorist activity in nuclear-armed Pakistan have triggered a global interest in the need to secure nuclear weapons and materials. In April 2010 President Obama invited some key countries and international organisations in Washington to frame a new regime for nuclear security. The emerging regime includes some older initiatives as well as some new mechanisms, and it must address a number of issues. Rajiv Nayan January 2012 Strategic Analysis
Managing India’s Land Borders: Lessons from the US Experience India has been grappling with the problem of devising an efficient border management strategy that would prevent the entry of dangerous elements while at the same time allowing the legitimate flow of goods, services and people. Given that it has always been vulnerable to cross-border threats and challenges such as illegal migration, drug and human trafficking, gunrunning, smuggling of commodities and cross-border terrorism, India has taken a largely unilateral approach towards border management whereby security of the borders is accorded primacy over the free movement of people and goods. Pushpita Das January 2012 Strategic Analysis