Strategic Analysis

Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years by A. S. Dulat and Aditya Sinha

Until recently, most top officials in India who had dealt with very sensitive issues in government refrained from writing about them. The adage they followed was that what everyone wanted...

Dynamics of ‘Civil-Military’ Relations in India

The burgeoning scholarship on the army’s role in nation building, or the lack of it, is unsurprising. In the modern political order, a nation without its own army is hardly...

Applying Human Security in the Indian Context

This article explores the concept of human security and examines the scope for its adoption as a normative and policy framework in India. Human security prioritises non-military methods as a...

Implications of the Dragon’s Rise for South Asia: Assessing China’s Nepal Policy

China has always been an important neighbour to Nepal which has otherwise historically been heavily influenced by India. The ‘rise of China’ has created a more outward-looking Middle Kingdom and...

India and Central Asia: Untying the Energy Knot

India was always aware of the enormous energy reserves within its geographically proximate Central Asian region that could potentially fulfil its energy demands. The recent visit by Prime Minister Modi...

P. Stobdan |
January 2016 |
Strategic Analysis

Kurdistan: Ataturk to Öcalan

The rise of Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham (Daesh), or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in the vacuum created by the war in these countries has reignited...

Sandhya Jain |
January 2016 |
Strategic Analysis

Assessing India’s Cyber Resilience: Institutional Stability Matters

In this commentary, I will use strategic cyberwar theory1 to explain why India has a higher level of cyber resilience than several of its potential adversaries. Even if India has...

Jan Kallberg |
January 2016 |
Strategic Analysis

Dams as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Geopolitical Implications for Pakistan

Pakistani planners are increasingly prone to recognize the many links between water, food, and energy security. The construction of new large dams is seen by many as a concrete measure...

Majed Akhter |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Where Hawks Dwell on Water and Bankers Build Power Poles: Transboundary Waters, Environmental Security and the Frontiers of Neo-liberalism

Hydropower development clearly has a significant role to play in the closer integration of different parts of the Himalayas and in facilitating downstream benefits throughout South Asia. However, the neo-liberal...

Nations without Borders: Climate Security and the South in the Epoch of the Anthropocene

The standard narrative on modern geopolitics is being re-scripted. Previous ingredients that made up the literature on high politics such as securing resources, rivalries over the control of territory and...

The Promise of China’s Cooperative Behaviour towards India

Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World: Revisiting Kautilya and his Arthashastra in the Third Millennium

Shounak Set |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Recasting Sino-Indian Relations: Towards a Closer Development Partnership

Sino-Indian relations were governed by concerns about an unsound bilateral bonhomie, internal as well as external strategic and political considerations, and in addition, national interests and priorities not necessarily oriented...

Keshab Chandra Ratha , Sushanta Kumar Mahapatra |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Pakistan’s Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Deconstructing India’s Doctrinal Response

The military and scientific leadership of Pakistan has given clear signals that tactical nuclear weapons have a vital role in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons policy. Developed to lower Pakistan’s nuclear threshold,...

Arka Biswas |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Reconsidering the Paracel Islands Dispute: An International Law Perspective

The Paracel Islands dispute has recently resurfaced as a source of conflict between Vietnam and China, who both claim sovereignty over the islands from ‘time immemorial’. This article re-examines their...

Editorial Note

2015 is a very special year for the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, marking 50 years since it was established on November 11, 1965. Celebrating the landmark, the current...

Editorial Board |
September 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict by Vipin Narang

Vipin Narang offers a critical analysis of why states adopt certain strategies and postures over others and how these choices affect their ability to deter conflicts. With the world already...

Reshmi Kazi |
September 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan

The South China Sea has been an area of intense focus in post-Cold War international affairs. The primary reason that explains the growing significance of the South China Sea in...

Sampa Kundu |
September 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Japan in Peril? 9 Crisis Scenarios by Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation

For a long time Japan has upheld the values of pacifism, democracy and industrial and economic prosperity. However, protection of these values seems to be at stake now as Japan...

Rendezvous with Rebels: Journey to Meet India’s Most Wanted Men by Rajeev Bhattacharyya

Rendezvous with Rebels is the passionate account of Rajeev Bhattacharyya’s daring journey to the rebel bases in Myanmar’s Sagaing Division where several separatist outfits from India’s troubled Northeast have established...

Atul K. Thakur |
September 2015 |
Strategic Analysis