Strategic Analysis

Conflicts between Iran and the Gulf Arab States: An Economic Evaluation

The post-2003 Persian Gulf sub-region has witnessed intensified geopolitical conflicts and competition between Iran and the Gulf Arab states, particularly between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Scholars and experts have mostly analysed the conflicts through political and strategic prisms while neglecting their economic dimensions. This article analyses the various post-2003 conflicts between Iran and the Gulf Arab states with a focus on how economic integration or the lack thereof creates the incentives to resolve or sustain the conflicts.

Does India Have a Neighbourhood Policy?

The article argues that India does not have a well-defined neighbourhood policy. It makes a historical survey of the approaches of different Indian leaders to the neighbourhood and examines the reasons for the prevailing negative perceptions about India in the region. It argues that these negative perceptions have come about because India has largely adopted an ad hoc and bilateral approach vis-à-vis its neighbours and has allowed its policy to be guided by an overarching concern for security. In recent years, India's approach has changed considerably.

Smruti S. Pattanaik , Arvind Gupta , Ashok K. Behuria
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Strategic Analysis

Everyman’s War: Strategy, Security and Terrorism in India by Raghu Raman

As compared to the traditional notions of victory in war defined by total victory over the adversary’s military, victory today rests on significantly retarding the adversary’s economic and geopolitical progress to advance one’s own. With this being the mindset of most contemporary threat elements, every citizen of a nation has become party to the effects of war or breaches of national security. Raghu Raman’s Everyman’s War vividly captures the underlying internal security problems faced by India, while at the same time suggesting reforms.

New Directions in Iranian Foreign Policy: Impact on Global Energy Security

After the June 2013 election when Hassan Rouhani became president of Iran, Iranian foreign policy changed course. The fundamental transformation is the result of his decision to open up a fresh dialogue with the United States and other Great Powers to resolve the nuclear stand-off that would end the country’s isolation, lift the biting US-led sanctions and allow Iran to open a new chapter in its economic policy and international diplomacy.