IDSA Comments - MP-IDSA

Iraq beyond the Troop Surge: Fragile Security Gains, Tenuous Political Stability

The military commander most associated with executing President George Bush’s ‘troop surge’ in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, handed over command of US forces to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno on...

S. Samuel C. Rajiv |
September 24, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Revisiting the Kosi Agreement: Lessons for Indo-Nepal Water Diplomacy

The year 2008 has witnessed yet another disastrous flood in North Bihar. Floods in Bihar have been almost an annual phenomenon. Though the capacity of the river flow was well...

Medha Bisht |
September 22, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Explaining China’s India Policy

Let the fact speak for itself. China was not happy about India gaining the waiver in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and it played the role of a spoiler till...

Abanti Bhattacharya |
September 17, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

NATO Expansion Hits Russian Roadblock in Georgia

The Russian military blitzkrieg to counter the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s dispatch of his Israeli and US trained and equipped forces to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia on...

Thomas Mathew |
September 17, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

US To Begin Troop Withdrawal from Iraq

After prolonged political and diplomatic negotiations between Iraq and the United States, President George Bush announced on September 9 the decision to withdraw around 8000 troops by the end of...

Prasanta Kumar Pradhan |
September 16, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The US Africa Command

Africa is no longer a distant region that can be ignored by the United States. As articulated in the US National Security Strategy, the need to expand and ensure America's...

Arvind Dutta |
September 12, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Implications of Transferring Control of the Awakening Councils in Iraq

The recent American plan to transfer control of the Awakening Movement’s tribal militias to the Iraqi Army is fraught with risk for the future of Iraq. The improved security situation...

Shelly Johny |
September 12, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The EU on the Georgia-Russia Conflict

The outcome of the deliberations at the September 1 Extraordinary European Council meeting held to discuss the Russian-Georgian conflict was not very dramatic. Gordon Brown penned a scathing article in...

Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay |
September 10, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Kashmir and the Idea of India

Recent developments in the State of Jammu and Kashmir have been a source of alarm on a variety of counts. Since the decline of militancy in the Valley in recent...

Arpita Anant |
September 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Russia maintains energy superpower status, for now

The Russia-Georgia conflict has caused several analysts to state that Moscow’s main goal was to ensure its energy dominance in the region. Though this may not be entirely correct –...

Shebonti Ray Dadwal |
September 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Pentagon’s Robotic Soldiers: Reality or Fiction?

Recent media reports indicate that the Pentagon is planning to replace 30 per cent of its soldiers with robots by 2020. The employment of robots by the armed forces includes...

Satinder K. Saini |
September 02, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

LTTE Woos Tamil Nadu

LTTE Political Head P. Nadesan’s recent call to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi to “turn into a supporter of LTTE struggle” in an interview to ‘Kumudam,’ a Tamil weekly, is...

M. Mayilvaganan |
August 29, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Shanghai Co-operation Organisation: Countering NATO’s Move

The August 28 SCO summit in Dushanbe will be viewed with keen concern by most international watchers. It comes on the heels of China’s successful conduct of the Olympics and...

P. Stobdan |
August 26, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Georgian Crisis will have adverse impact on Russia’s relations with the West

Russian military operations in Georgia and the finalisation of agreement between the US and Poland on the stationing of missile interceptors in Poland are two developments that are likely to...

Arvind Gupta |
August 25, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Is Expansion on the SCO Agenda?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is no more a curiosity and has become an important element of contemporary international relations. Since 2005, it has emerged as an influential regional body...

Meena Singh Roy |
August 22, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

What is wrong with India’s Defence Industrial Policy?

The above question arises in the context of publicly known government plans of arms procurement amounting to over $64 billion1 as part of the modernisation programme of the armed forces....

N. Neihsial |
August 22, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India’s Defence Offset Policy 2008

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently issued a new set of rules for the procurement of arms, ammunition and other defence related products and services. The rule book, known as...

Laxman Kumar Behera |
August 19, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The July 2008 Terrorist Attacks in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad

Two co-ordinated strikes on July 25 and 26, 2008 in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad killed 54 people and injured nearly 200. In the next few days, 28 bombs including two car...

T. Khurshchev Singh |
August 12, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Russia’s New Rules for Global Competition

Russia’s new President Dmitry Medvedev has put forward a fresh foreign policy blueprint and set forth a brand new idea of a Pan-European Security structure, which envisages a role for...

P. Stobdan |
August 07, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Can SAARC hold the Regional Dream?

SAARC has in recent years attracted wide international attention and generated much interest among countries that now hold Observer status. The 15th Summit held in Colombo on August 2 –...

Smruti S. Pattanaik |
August 07, 2008 |
IDSA Comments