Strategic Analysis

Understanding the Nuclear Aspirations and Behaviour of North Korea and Iran

This article explores the drivers of North Korea and Iran’s nuclear aspirations and behaviour by employing the theoretical prisms of ‘security dilemma’, ‘regional security complex’ (RSC) and ‘social constructivism’. It argues that ideational values and interests are shaping Iranian and North Korean nuclear aspirations and behaviour. Conversely, the absence of positive inter-subjective understanding of the US and its allies regarding Iran and North Korea is influencing their nuclear non-proliferation policy towards these states.

Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb by Feroz Hassan Khan

Feroz Hassan Khan’s credentials are high considering that he served with the Pakistan army for 32 years with his last assignment as director of arms control and disarmament affairs in the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), the secretariat of Pakistan’s National Command Authority (NCA). The book under review was not an easy venture, as the author observes: ‘new nuclear states such as India, Israel and Pakistan perforce keep their nuclear programmes opaque to avoid international non-proliferation pressures’ (p. ix).

A Maritime School of Strategic Thought for Australia—Perspectives, by Justine Jones

The epistemology of maritime strategic thought is a subject of growing interest and discussion among maritime analysts today. In a world where national interest is increasingly defined by maritime connectivity and overseas influence, nations have been investing considerable military and diplomatic energy in developing a nautical blueprint for future growth. Forging a comprehensive maritime strategy has, however, not been easy as strategic thinking on maritime issues has swung erratically between a rapidly evolving present and a sharply unpredictable future.

Beyond Strategies: Cultural Dynamics in Asian Connections, by Priya Singh, Suchandana Chatterjee, Anita Sengupta and Arpita Basu Roy

Cultural dynamics play an important role in shaping foreign and security policies of nations. This book, a collection of 15 essays, research articles and notes presented at a seminar by Indian and foreign scholars, explores the variety of cultural connections that have operated in the Asian geo-strategic landscape for centuries. The key point made in the book is that the influence of cultural connections on hard core policy formulation often goes unappreciated and needs to be studied systematically for a better and nuanced understanding of strategies.

The World through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East by Shibley Telhami

The World through Arab Eyes is a 20-year project based on 10 years of actual public opinion polling in the Arab world by the author. It offers an insightful counterpoint to the dominant literature on the Arab world through its recognition of the value of the public even as power is concentrated among a narrow elite. Scholars and political commentators often discount the power of opinion as it lacks the fundamental push required to make systemic changes.

Russia’s Arctic Strategies and the Future of the Far North, by Marlene Laruelle

Recent literature on the geopolitical consequences of Arctic climate change has been significantly advanced by Marlene Laruelle’s Russia’s Arctic Strategies and the Future of the Far North. In many respects, it is a book whose time has come. Since the Arctic re-emerged on the global stage following record low sea ice extent in 2007, there has been a succession of rapid-fire publications on the politics of Arctic climate change. Most have lacked the depth, perspective and interdisciplinary approach required to understand the region.

Contemporary India–China Dynamics: From an Orthodox to an Autonomous Course?

This review essay examines the significance of India–China relations against the background of the current phenomenon of a multipolar world in the light of four recent publications on the subject. Tien-sze Fang’s and Jeff M. Smith’s works discuss the current facets of India–China relations, while William Antholis’s and Carl J. Dahlman’s works deal with the character and standing that India and China bring to their regional and global discourse.

A Comprehensive Approach to Internet Governance and Cybersecurity

The pressing issues around cyberspace revolve around internet governance, cybersecurity and drawing up rules of the road for the new domain of cyberwar. While each of these is at a different stage in its evolution cycle, cyberspace itself is facing a watershed moment as insecurities mount. The fragmentation of cyberspace seems inevitable unless there is accelerated movement on resolving the fundamental issues of internet governance and cybersecurity that have been hanging fire for well over a decade.

Cyberspace: Post-Snowden

Just as the world was beginning to understand the various dimensions of cyberspace in general, and internet governance in particular, it received the rude shock of the Snowden revelations about the global surveillance carried out by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in the name of counterterrorism. All kinds of electronic communications of US citizens and non-citizens alike were monitored. Phone tapping and electronic interception were part of this huge operation to collect a haystack of data in the hope of detecting terrorist links to protect national security.

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 in a relatively informal setting so they could address the growing mistrust between their countries. While maritime disputes, trade tensions and differences over how to contain the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programmes were high on the agenda, cyber security—in particular Chinese cyber espionage—was the defining issue of this unusual summit.