Strategic Analysis

Vision for a Secular Pakistan?

This article will bring to light the transformation of the Pakistani state from a relatively tolerant to an unstable state dominated by militancy and violence. In the formative phase of Pakistan, the notion of religious extremism was almost non-existent as the founder of the country, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, made it clear that the new state would not be theocratic in nature.

Pakistan’s Pashtun Challenge: Moving from Confrontation to Integration

The Pashtun populations of Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been a source of bilateral contention, with each government inciting Pashtun tribals against the other. Now that the majority of Pashtuns live in Pakistan, Islamabad is using its Pashtun connections to project influence into Afghanistan. As a result, both Afghanistan and Pakistan are threatened by runaway Pashtun militancy. Peace and stability in both countries will be impossible until political reforms have been implemented in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.

India amidst Increased Activity in the Security Council: A Few Observations

Article 1 of the United Nations Charter declares the maintenance of international peace and security to be the primary function of the United Nations. This makes the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) the most important organ of the whole establishment. All other functions and engagements of the United Nations are in support of the primary cause.

Asymmetric Warfare: A View from India

Coined a few years ago, ‘asymmetric warfare’ is an umbrella term that includes insurgent and terrorist campaigns that Western militaries were forced to contend with in the course of external interventions. Asymmetric wars for Western countries are wars of choice, not wars of necessity.

Should India ‘Be East’ or Be Eurasian?

The recent fad among Western security commentaries is to portray India as a natural member of East Asian political life.

Changing Media, Changing China by Susan L. Shirk (ed.)

The opening up of the Chinese economy in 1978 was a watershed event in Chinese history. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decided to open up certain sections of the economy in order to maintain good economic growth.

Gunjan Singh |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

China’s Rising Global Profile: The Great Power Tradition by Harsh V. Pant

China's global presence is indisputable, yet for most of the Cold War, China shied away from an international role. However, as China's economic profile has risen, so too has its interest in engaging with regions further afield.

Out of the Frame: The Struggle for Academic Freedom in Israel by Ilan Pappe

Ilan Pappe's Out of the Frame is a personal narrative about Jewish society in Israel and an intellectual commentary by a historian on the state of Israel.

Negotiating for India (Lessons of Diplomacy) by Jagat Mehta

Jagat Mehta joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in March 1947 before India became independent. In 1976, at the age of 53, he became India's first foreign secretary without an Indian civil service background. He retired in 1979. In the present book, the author discusses six negotiating assignments that he handled during his diplomatic career, pertaining to Bhutan, China, Uganda, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The book is a must read for those interested in India's diplomacy and diplomatic practices of the past.

Arvind Gupta |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan, Harper Collins

MJ. Akbar brings his English literature background, writing skills and experience as a journalist with a notable body of work behind him to bear on a topic that has been and remains central to the story of the subcontinent—the past and future of Pakistan. That he prefaces his title with tinderbox reveals his pessimism regarding Pakistan's future. For him, Pakistan can plausibly be characterised as a ‘toxic jelly’.

Ali Ahmed |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Emerging Space Powers by Brian Harvey, Henk Smid and Theo Pirard

Within the ever expanding genre of conflict and security-related literature, there is a less investigated field that pertains to futuristic technologies and the harnessing of science for the purposes of mass destruction and targeted warfare. This is the arena of space, the battlefield of major powers and the arena for power expansion into the extra-terrestrial.

Ajey Lele |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks and Power in India by Robert S. Anderson

Science and the Baconian spirit of scientific rationality have long inspired Indians, many of whom, including the country's first prime minister, regarded the superiority of Western science as the root cause of the subcontinent's subjection to foreign rule.

A Time Series Forecast of Geopolitical Market Concentration (GMC) Risk: An Analysis of the Crude Oil Diversification Portfolio of India

The oil-rich Middle East region is always seen as a politically volatile region, but it has been the source of crude oil supply to all major consumers worldwide for decades. The article makes an empirical analysis of the geopolitical risk of India's diversification portfolio, which is skewed towards the Middle East.

The Delicate Balance: Israel and India’s Foreign Policy Practice

India's foreign policy interactions with Israel are marked by a political discreetness which is in contrast to its prominent political engagement with the Palestinians and countries of the Arab world. India plays down its robust defence engagement with Israel, censures Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians, supports Palestinian-related resolutions at multi-lateral forums like the UN, differs strongly from Israeli policy on issues such as Iran's nuclear programme while being opposed to the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capability.

Velayat-e-Faqih (Supreme Leader) and Iranian Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis

There has been an increasing assertion of the velayat-e-faqih in Iranian politics in recent years. This has led to tensions between them and the presidential office in Iran. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to analyse the constitutional position of the velayat-e-faqih and how it has interacted with other institutions to shape Iranian foreign policy. The article critically analyses the relationship between the velayat-e-faqih and different popularly elected presidents.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Cooperation Problems on Human Rights

Though the original focus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was primarily economic cooperation, the adoption of the ASEAN charter in November 2007 officially included cooperation on human rights. This article examines three hypotheses to determine the causes of cooperation problems: regime type, non-interference policy, and absence of an enforcement mechanism in the ASEAN charter.

The Emerging Nuclear Security Regime: Challenges Ahead

everal measures are being initiated by the international community to secure sensitive materials. Al Qaeda's open interest in acquiring nuclear weapons and the rise of terrorist activity in nuclear-armed Pakistan have triggered a global interest in the need to secure nuclear weapons and materials. In April 2010 President Obama invited some key countries and international organisations in Washington to frame a new regime for nuclear security. The emerging regime includes some older initiatives as well as some new mechanisms, and it must address a number of issues.

Rajiv Nayan |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Managing India’s Land Borders: Lessons from the US Experience

India has been grappling with the problem of devising an efficient border management strategy that would prevent the entry of dangerous elements while at the same time allowing the legitimate flow of goods, services and people. Given that it has always been vulnerable to cross-border threats and challenges such as illegal migration, drug and human trafficking, gunrunning, smuggling of commodities and cross-border terrorism, India has taken a largely unilateral approach towards border management whereby security of the borders is accorded primacy over the free movement of people and goods.

Pushpita Das |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Bhutan’s Foreign Policy Determinants: An Assessment

This article assesses the shifting preferences of Bhutan towards the foreign policy determinants. Three determinants (national security, political culture and economic engagement) have been studied as they play a significant role in shaping Bhutan's policy behaviour. These determinants have been analysed with respect to India, Nepal and China, three countries that have been of critical interest to Bhutan's foreign policy.

Medha Bisht |
January 2012 |
Strategic Analysis

Examining China’s Hydro-Behaviour: Peaceful or Assertive?

China is a thirsty country desperately in need of water—a lot of it. In order to meet its water and energy requirements in the densely populated and fertile northern plains, it is successively making interventions in the Tibetan rivers in the southern part through dams and diversions. While China is well within its riparian rights to do so, a set of externalities involving the principles of water-sharing and lower riparian needs—stretching from Afghanistan to Vietnam—raise concerns.