Strategic Analysis

COVID-19: Projecting the National Security Dimensions of Pandemics

National security—in its traditional sense—is associated with the protection of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a state, as well as its critical interests abroad. However, the lethal nature of...

COVID-19: A Testing Time for UAE–India Relations? A Perspective from Abu Dhabi

Responses against COVID-19 have become one of the defining aspects of the modern-day state system that is testing the organic capacity of nations in particular and the international community in...

Impact of COVID-19 on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The global onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic continues as uncertainty swirls around the global economy signalling a slowdown. It is still uncertain how long it will take to arrest the spread...

SAARC COVID-19 Fund: Calibrating a Regional Response to the Pandemic

The convening of a video conference of the SAARC leaders by the Indian Prime Minister on March 15 to initiate a regional response to the COVID-19 pandemic came as a...

Georgia 2008: Conflict Dynamics in the Cyber Domain

The article focuses on the Five-Day War, which took place between Georgia and the Russian Federation in August 2008. This war provides the first example of use of cyber-attacks during...

Deepening Critical Infrastructures in Northeast India: People’s Perspective and Policy Implications

Northeast India continues to be an industrially underdeveloped and infrastructurally deficient region. The poor condition of infrastructure in the region demands serious attention. Studies in the region reveal that a...

Revisiting the Discourse on Strategic Culture: An Assessment of the Conceptual Debates

Strategic culture as a concept is generally understood as pertaining to the influence of the cultural dimension in national strategy. The concept rose to prominence due to the inability of...

Ladakh: India’s Gateway to Central Asia

Ladakh is one of the largest administrative units in India, in terms of its territory. Due to its contiguity with Xinjiang and Tibet and its close proximity to Central Asia,...

The Bangladesh Question and World Politics

The gruesome events in East Bengal since March 25, 1971 and their repercussions on India easily constitute the most appalling experience of the society of nations since the end of...

The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks

Scholars from various academic disciplines have attempted to explain the nature and drivers of the 21st century sui generis phenomenon of radicalization. However, it is rare to find a single...

Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum

It is not often that Pakistan is talked of in terms of the diversities it embodies. It is, perhaps, its descent into extremism and violence that has overshadowed every other...

Gambling with Violence: State Outsourcing of War in Pakistan and India

Yelena Biberman offers a new framework for understanding why and how states ‘outsource’ war to local non-state actors despite the risks of forfeiting the state’s monopoly over violence. Specifically, she...

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Questions on Pakistan’s Economic Stability

This article begins with a discussion on how the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is viewed differently by different political parties as well as by the civilian and military establishments in...

Uzbekistan: The Key Pillar of India’s ‘Act North’ Engagement

India has redefined its engagement with Eurasia in the last few years. It has sought to re-energize ties with its extended neighbourhood based on its historical linkages, positive and benign...

From Energy Security to Energy Dominance: US’ Blending of Politics and Economics

In the aftermath of the successful ‘America First’ or ‘Make America Great Again’ presidential election campaign, President Trump’s era inaugurated the realm of energy politics. It began with the US...

Vasileios Balafas , Efstathios T. Fakiolas |
March 2020 |
Strategic Analysis

The Indian Military and Social Change

Over the years, the Indian Army has been engaged in two important roles: external defence and the maintenance of internal security. As the Army’s emphasis has shifted from the latter...

In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba

The basic goal of states in an anarchical international system is survival. One of the best ways to ensure survival is to maximize security through self-help. States engage in self-help...

Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy since 1949

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undertaken its most elaborate reforms since the past 30 years under President Xi Jinping. The current PLA restructuring since 2016 aligns with China’s...

Suyash Desai |
January 2020 |
Strategic Analysis

By More than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia-Pacific since 1783

In the ascription of causality in international relations (IR), there is either deliberate action or historical contingency. Historical contingency is an element that cannot be accounted for; however, deliberate action...

Kautilya and Non-Western IR theory

Kautilya’s Arthashastra, after its rediscovery in 1905, became an important reference point for the nationalist discourse in India. The treatise, with its foundational roots in the third-century BCE, helped the...