Global Governance and the Need for ‘Pragmatic Activism’ in India’s Multilateralism
While global governance is all about creating an international order that addresses the interests of the big and small nations and people, non-government and corporate entities, the foreign policy of a state, including its multilateralism, aims at achieving its national interest. Tension between the two therefore is only natural. Often this is depicted as a hiatus between the greater good associated with idealism and self-interest associated with pragmatism.
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India’s Economic Opportunities and Energy Security: Analysing Prospects Within SAARC and Beyond
It has been extensively debated whether India should prioritise relations with its immediate or extended neighbourhood. Put into the framework of energy security and competition with China, it will be argued that the recently signed South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) framework agreement can provide the basis and open up new opportunities for inter- and sub-regional energy co-operation in Asia.
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India’s ocean: the story of India’s bid for regional leadership by David Brewster
Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan once stated: ‘Whoever attains maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean would be a prominent player on the international scene. Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia. This Ocean is the key to the seven seas in the 21st century, the destiny of the world will be decided in these waters’.1 It is these prophetic words that are the pivot for the book under review, India’s Ocean: The Story of India’s Bid for Regional Leadership.
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Sri-Yantra and the geophilosophy of India by Niraj Kumar
The book, as the title suggests, has Sri-Yantra and geophilosophy as its central themes. Sri-Yantra is a powerful positive energy symbol that is known for bringing peace, prosperity, harmony and good fortune. This powerful Yantra is a diagram based on nine interlocking triangular formulations. It is also known as Srichakra and Indian mystics and gurus have known about it for a long time.
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Cyber war: the next threat to national security and what to do about it? by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake
War, in the age of the ‘Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)’ has changed its nature and tactics. Use of sophisticated systems has made it difficult to penetrate defences. Cyber war, however, appears as a drill to penetrate the defences of nations, because defence against cyber offence is so far not strong. Clarke was the first cyber security advisor to US president George W. Bush (Jr.) from 2001 to 2003 and Knake was a senior officer in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This book primarily focuses on US cyberspace security based on their experiences.
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Role of Historical Legacy in India’s Relations with Territories to its East
The ability of history to intrude into the present has often been underestimated. Nowhere is this more evident than in India’s relations with territories to its immediate east. Colonial rule by the British in Northeast India and Myanmar left a lasting impact on the two countries, which is felt to this day. Japanese control of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also left its own historical imprint.
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Harnessing Opportunities and Overcoming Challenges: Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region
Based on the work of the Maritime Security Working Group within the Strategic Studies Network (SSN), this report provides both diagnosis and prescriptions regarding security threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The IOR, a large maritime area that extends from coastal Africa through the Middle East and South Asia and on to Australia, is a major conduit for global trade, a littoral zone of developing powers, and the focus of a series of rising security challenges.
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Boko Haram: The Multifaceted Story of Terror and Cultism
Nigeria is currently going through a very delicate phase. The kidnapping of more than 275 Chibok schoolgirls by the terrorist organisation Boko Haram shocked not only Nigeria but the international community at large. This act by Boko Haram was widely criticised and led to worldwide condemnation and an international rescue effort. More seriously, the group leader Shekhau threatened to sell the girls into slavery and used Islamic teachings as justification.
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Boko Haram: Insurgency and the War against Terrorism in the Lake Chad Region
The Boko Haram insurgency has emerged as one of the greatest threats to human security in Africa, and the Lake Chad region in particular. This is a region with a total area of 427,500 km2, which covers/ Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The movement known as Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) originated in Nigeria in 2002. The official name of the movement is Jama’atu Ahlis Suna Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad).
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