Strategic Analysis

Emergence of radical and extremist Islamist movements has proved to be a major source of instability in South and Central Asia. Radical Islamist groups emphasise that political power is indispensable to the establishment of an Islamic state. Though Muslims like non-Muslims have multiple identities – religious, ethnic, tribal, linguistic or territorial, the emphasis by the Islamists on the Islamic communal identity puts them in collision course with the state and other communities.

• K. Warikoo
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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State-building efforts in Pakistan have been increasingly come under challenge from ethno-national movements. The current spate of insurgency in Balochistan is a product of repressive policies coupled with historical grievances that have led to increased alienation amongst the Baloch and a general perception that they are being exploited. The continuing violence has the potential to destabilise not only Pakistan but the entire region.

• Alok Bansal
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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The US-led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan has led to the re-establishment of the warlords, and has failed to adequately address the issue of drug menace in an effective manner. As the Bonn process ended with the September 2005 elections, and the US forces are likely to partially withdraw this year, it is pertinent to evaluate the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan and its implications for the post-election Afghanistan.

• Vishal Chandra
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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The long drawn out ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka has been accepted as a serious challenge for scholars, activists, peace-makers and the expanding international community of professionals engaged in conflict-resolution/ management/ transformation. In view of the intractable nature of the conflict and its escalation potential, both the parties to the conflict have welcomed external mediation to seek a way out of the crisis. However, the divide between the two parties continue to widen further.

• Ashok K. Behuria
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Regionalism has not been a very successful endeavour in South Asia so far. What has gone wrong? Regionalism can be approached from both functional and neo-functional approaches. While functionalism is still relevant in Europe, primarily because of its geographical contiguity and cultural commonalities, the same does not seem to have worked in South Asia in spite of common historical and cultural roots and geographical contiguity. The article explores the specific case of Pakistan and its inability to come to terms with the basic tenets of regionalism.

• Sumita Kumar
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) completed two decades of its existence in 2005. Yet it has only made modest progress in achieving its regional goals. The reasons for this are many. Successful regionalism requires a shared faith in collective gains and a vision for long-term cooperation that has been missing. There has been a visible lack of trust among some of the principal actors, a preponderance of domestic political consideration and a strong sensitivity towards sovereignty that has prevented collective action and gains from cooperation.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Complex and amorphous threats confront India’s security environment in its maritime East. India has very high stakes in the Bay of Bengal and its adjoining seas. The confluence of vital sea lines makes this region one of great strategic relevance to other powers as well. This translates into both challenges and opportunities for India. The Andaman & Nicobar archipelago had long been perceived as India’s key vulnerability due to its remote location and a history of some of its islands ‘slipping away’ from the Indian dominion. Such wariness may be unfounded in the present times.

• Gurpreet S Khurana
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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The end of the Cold War, the September 11 terrorists’ attacks, preponderance of US power and globalisation have shaped the present world order and posed new opportunities and challenges for China. China’s need to fulfill its grand strategy of acquiring comprehensive national power within this external environment and overcome the existing challenges has given rise to its post-Cold War foreign policy strategy. Given the challenges it faces, its primary need is to ensure continuance of a peaceful environment to sustain its reform and modernisation programme.

• Abanti Bhattacharya
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Electoral politics in Taiwan reflects the popular ambivalence in articulation of its political and national identity. This ambivalence is testing the strength of nascent domestic democratic institutions. Taiwanese democratisation has also introduced a new variable in crossstrait relations that China and the US both have to contend with. Greater democratisation of Taiwanese politics and the struggle over the country’s national and cultural identity is making the management of crossstrait relations more complex for all three parties, i.e., Taipei, Beijing and Washington.

• Sonika Gupta
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Reinventing the Past

• Alyson J. K. Bailes
• January 2006 |
• Strategic Analysis
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