Strategic Analysis

A global temperature rise is being experienced earliest and most intensely in the Arctic region. The changes are worrying but the commercial interests are equally enticing. The Arctic is witnessing the convergence of the geophysical, the geo-economic and the geostrategic in strange and dramatic ways, making it a paradox and an antithesis. For India, the Arctic is distant when it comes to economic interests and near when it comes to climate change.

• Uttam Kumar Sinha , Arvind Gupta
• November 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Russia places a high strategic priority on the Arctic from a security perspective, in view of the need to secure the Northern Sea Route as well as develop natural resources in the region. While large-scale snap military inspections were taking place in Russia’s Far East in July 2013, five Chinese navy vessels passed into the Sea of Okhotsk—the first such instance in history.

• Shinji Hyodo
• November 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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This article discusses the type of partnership Russia pursues towards China in the Arctic. Through evidence, the author finds that while Russia may be aiming for an overall strategic partnership, Arctic developments on the whole conclude on a pragmatic approach. Russia needs assistance to develop the Arctic and an eastward diversification is opportune. Russia’s energy development in the Arctic indicates an emerging strategic co-operation with China, but policies towards Beijing concerning the Arctic Council and the Northern Sea Route prove to be more pragmatic.

• Tom Røseth
• November 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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This article examines the main drivers of Norway’s High North policy towards the new Asian stakeholders. The High North became a foreign policy priority for Norway in 2005, and Norway is building on the foundations of this policy by engaging new Asian stakeholders in Arctic affairs. An aspiration to impact Asian states’ views on Arctic developments early in their policy-making processes, including on the legal and institutional framework for the Arctic through diplomatic dialogue, is one factor explaining Norway’s engagement policy.

• Jo Inge Bekkevold , Kristine Offerdal
• November 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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As global warming and melting of the ice is making the Arctic increasingly accessible, the region’s hydrocarbon riches are attracting international interest. Thus far, despite the presence of vast untapped energy and mineral resources, the Arctic is not considered a geopolitical hotspot. In fact, many of the Arctic states have dismissed the possibility of conflict over the region’s spoils due to the collaborative governance model that has been established.

• Shebonti Ray Dadwal
• November 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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At the outset, it is important to put on record the epistemological root of the reading of Chanakya’s Arthashastra applicable to this commentary. The main text is from the translated volume by L.N. Rangarajan, titled Kautilya: The Arthashastra published by Penguin in 1992. Rangarajan has himself stated that he was guided by two versions of the original treatise of R. Samasastry and R.P. Kangle.

• Pinak Chakravarty
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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With water concerns growing increasingly urgent, the global community will benefit from a treatment of the lessons learned and best practices in water dispute resolutions and approaches to water management. This report discusses the outcome of a working group of water experts from the Near East and South Asia (NESA) region,1 set up by the Strategic Studies Network, National Defense University, Washington DC.

• Uttam Kumar Sinha
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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On November 7, 1950, Vallabhbhai Patel wrote his celebrated letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on India’s China policy. ‘The Chinese Government has tried to delude us by professions of peaceful intention’, he stated, referring to Beijing’s decision to move troops into Tibet. A new challenge confronted India as a result of the ‘disappearance of Tibet, as we knew it, and the expansion of China almost up to our gates’. ‘Chinese ambitions … not only cover the Himalayan slopes on our side but also include the important part of Assam.

• Chandrashekhar Dasgupta
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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The increasing dependence on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has unleashed a whole new genre of cyber terrorism. Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, online hate propaganda and use of the internet for recruiting, planning and effecting terrorist attacks have become new frontiers of terrorism. The ubiquitous cyberspace has expanded terrorism structures and transformed their operations.

• Swaran Singh , Jayanna Krupakar
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics is a unique contribution to the subject of Kautilya’s Arthashastra (KA). Arthashastradiscusses at length governance, diplomacy, military science and political economy.1 However, never has such a strong case been presented for Kautilya’s inclusion in the economic community. Given the degree of quantitative sophistication that economic science has achieved in the 21st century, it is all the more difficult to introduce abstractions of Kautilyan thought within the modern economic framework.

• Divya Malhotra
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis
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