Strategic Analysis

Cyberspace: The New Strategic Realm in US–China Relations

In June 2013, President Obama met with President Xi Jinping at Sunnylands, California. The meeting was seen as a chance for the two leaders to get to know each other...

National Perceptions of Cyber Threats

The issue of cybersecurity as an issue for international security has captured the attention of policy makers around the world. A 2011 United Nations (UN) assessment found that only 68...

Cyber Terrorism: Electronic Jihad

Cyber terrorism is a phenomenon that is gaining more and more attention. One reason for this is the concern that modern information and communications technology may be used in order...

Two to Tango: The US and China in the Asia-Pacific

In the last decade, the dynamics of inter-state relations in the Asia Pacific have changed rapidly, largely due to the rise of China. Competition rather than cooperation has become the...

India–Pakistan Human Rights Imbroglio in Geneva

Dr. Arvind Gupta (AG): You were India’s Permanent Representative (PR) at Geneva from 1992 to 1995, a momentous period for India. As PR, you faced a number of challenges vis-à-vis...

India’s Natural Gas Infrastructure: Reassessing Challenges and Opportunities

This article describes India’s energy situation in the midst of current economic and geopolitical challenges while highlighting some of the key issues pertaining to India’s natural gas infrastructure.

The Past, Present and Future of the ‘Liberal Peace’

The stunted and stumbling progress of the ‘liberal peace’ philosophy since 1990 tells a complex story. In this article, I give a history of the liberal peace project from its...

Afghanistan’s Political Reconciliation Policy: Ill Conceived and Self-Defeating

The Afghan government’s peace and reconciliation overtures to the militants, initially at the unofficial level but later sanctioned officially, have formed a key theme of state security policy from the...

Looking at Nuclear Rivalry: The Role of Nuclear Deterrence

The 100th anniversary of World War I is a reminder of the risks of great power politics. The current dynamics of world politics rest on the relations among the US,...

Asian States in Crisis

Problems common to many Asian states suggest a pattern of crisis in Asia. The evidence suggests that the root cause is the similarity in the patterns of political development of...

Pakistan’s Nasr/Hatf-IX Missile: Challenges for Indo-Pak Deterrence

On November 5, 2013 Pakistan conducted its fourth test of the Hatf-IX (Nasr) short range battlefield ‘nuclear’ missile. To date there have been four flight tests of the missile system....

India–South Korea Relations and the Emerging Regional Architecture

South Korean president Park Geun-hye visited India in January 2014 after India and South Korea marked 40 years of diplomatic relations the previous year.1 These developments symbolise a burgeoning relationship...

Examining the Interventionist Logic in the Arab Uprisings

At first glance, there was no coherent regional and international response to the transitions triggered in the Arab world since December 2010 as external players, both regional and international, had...

EU–China and EU–India: A Tale of Two Strategic Partnerships

More than a decade has passed since the European Union (EU) signed strategic partnerships with China (2003) and India (2004). The EU’s ‘honeymoon’ with China was over within a few...

The Limits of ‘Hybrid Governance’ in Afghanistan

The following commentary argues that the strategic and structural solutions proffered by advocates of ‘hybrid’ governance—encompassing elements from distinctly different ideological backgrounds or schools of thought—ignore or fail to address...

Addressing Violent Extremism: Lessons from Sri Lanka

In the years since the hostilities in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, the understandable international focus on the evidence of war crimes by both sides has diverted attention from certain...

Sun Zi and Kautilya: Towards a Comparative Analysis

It may be stated at the outset that this essay is essentially an attempt to identify some critical commonalities in the approaches of Sun Zi and Kautilya, the two profound...

No One’s World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn by Charles A. Kupchan

Europe and the US have together dominated the world for over 200 years and have shaped the nature of the modern international order through their power and ideas. But they...

The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat by Vali Nasr

The Dispensable Nation provides a useful critique of the Obama administration. The author, Vali Nasr, analyses Obama’s foreign policy, especially his approach towards regions afflicted by crises, from the volatile...

Facing the Taliban: Experiences of a UN Woman Aid Worker in Taliban Controlled Afghanistan by Anoja Wijeyesekera

This book is based on the four years that Anoja Wijeyesekera, the author, spent in Afghanistan as a UNICEF official (November 1997–September 12, 2001) before she and other UNICEF staff...