Growing al Qaeda Threat in Yemen Yemen has witnessed a number of al Qaeda-led activities in recent weeks. A suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in the city of Shibam in Hadramaut province on March 15, 2009. Three days later, al Qaeda attempted an attack on the convoy of the South Korean official delegation that was investigating these killings. These are the latest in a series of attacks on foreigners and foreign-run establishments in the country. Prasanta Kumar Pradhan April 15, 2009 IDSA Comments
Changing Roles of Navies in the Contemporary World Order with Specific Reference to the Indian Navy As a mature and responsible maritime power, India has a clear self-interest in what happens in her geo-strategic maritime areas of interest. Consequently, the maritime security of India and its environs are central to the functioning of the Indian Navy. Sureesh Mehta April 2009 Journal of Defence Studies
Af-Pak Plan: Responding to Holbrooke’s Diplomacy Much as the text of Obama’s new ‘Af-Pak’ plan echoes India’s traditional concerns, it may turn out to be contrary to India’s interest with unseen implications in the longer term. Obama’s outlined strategy has been described as a ‘bold bid’ ‘bottom-up’ ‘comprehensive’ ‘pragmatic’ and even a ‘game changer’ approach. P. Stobdan April 13, 2009 IDSA Comments
Resolution of Tibet a will-o’-the-wisp For decades, the issue of Tibetan autonomy has been a bone of contention between China and the Tibetan government in exile. While Beijing considers Tibet an integral part of China, the Tibetan people owe their allegiance to the Dalai Lama. Over the years, friction between the two parties have manifested through outbreak of anti-China uprisings, both within and outside Tibet. The occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet on March 10, 2009, once again reinforced the acrimonious relationship between China and the Tibet government in exile. Pranamita Baruah April 13, 2009 IDSA Comments
Domestic Support, National Interest and the US War on Terror Pakistan’s counter-terrorism performance has received much attention. However, the United States’ capacity to sustain the ‘War on Terror’ needs greater attention, because Washington is the principal state leading the global fight against terrorism. Defeating and routing Al Qaeda was the core objective of the United States following the September 11 attacks, according to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counterterrorism expert Paul Pillar. Washington was prepared to live with the extremist Taliban if its leadership snapped ties and handed over the top leadership of Al Qaeda. Kartik Bommakanti April 13, 2009 IDSA Comments
North Korea continues to defy the world True to its planned schedule, North Korea defied warnings from the international community on 5 April 2009, launching a rocket capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii. As was expected, it stirred a chorus of worldwide criticism. Yet, the emergency meeting of the United National Security Council convened for the specific purpose of debating the North Korean issue remained deadlocked. China armed with veto power remained inflexible in its position and called for “calm and restraint” from the international community in an effort to “safeguard peace and stability of the region”. Rajaram Panda April 13, 2009 IDSA Comments
Optimal Resource Allocations for Defence and Inter/Intra Service Sharing Ideally, resource allocation needs to be based on the strategic goals to be achieved. Presently, we follow incremental budget process, which is widely accepted as suboptimal. Therefore, there is a need to find a more suitable model to replace the existing one. Kishore Kumar Khera April 2009 Journal of Defence Studies
Swine Flu: A Potential Pandemic A global hysteria has surfaced with the outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico, the United States (US), Canada, Spain and Britain. In Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced… Continue reading Swine Flu: A Potential Pandemic Reshmi Kazi April-June 2009 CBW Magazine
Terror Forecast : RNBC Terrorism? Terror is not new to India. Modern man is living in a violent world and undeniably, societal threshold of violence is rising. As a result, ‘People’ are already inoculated against… Continue reading Terror Forecast : RNBC Terrorism? R V Athavale April-June 2009 CBW Magazine
India’s Defence Spending: A Trend Analysis In past two decades, the Army has witnessed a decrease in its share in the overall budget, whereas the Navy and the Air Force have increased their respective shares. This reflects a shifting priority, from land-centric armed force to an air and naval-centric force. Laxman Kumar Behera April 2009 Journal of Defence Studies
