Asymmetric Competition Ahead for Indian Air Power This article deliberates on some ‘disruptive’ issues that will affect employment, doctrine, force development and the very future of exclusive manned air power. Currently, causing asymmetry on the battlefield is considered a virtue rather than a weaker adversary’s option. Pakistan’s strategy against India and Chinese anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) are examples of cheaper but effective means. Driven by rapid advances in technology and confluence of emerging scientific capabilities, warfighting’s character is changing. Rajesh Isser | January-March 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
Role of Internet of Things in Biological Warfare Abstract The weaponisation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been a new element in twenty-first century warfare where ‘biowarfare’ is no exception. Active research has been taking place on… Continue reading Role of Internet of Things in Biological Warfare Utkarsha Mahajan | January-June 2021 | CBW Magazine
The Perils of Vaccine Nationalism COVID-19 vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations will prolong the pandemic, and result in greater economic and social damage. Rajeesh Kumar | January 04, 2021 | Issue Brief
Imran Khan and Pakistan’s Enduring Political Crisis While Imran Khan’s efforts to build legitimacy around his ‘personality’ as a religious person and a crusader against corruption do not seem to have convinced many people, his government’s inability to bring the much-promised tabdeeli (‘change’) to Pakistan is beginning to hurt him politically. Nazir Ahmad Mir | January 04, 2021 | IDSA Comments
Bangladesh and Its Security Relationship with External Powers Publisher: KW Publishers A state’s security is heavily dependent upon its geopolitical environment. The geopolitical setting of South Asia changed in 1971 with the birth of Bangladesh as a new, independent nation. India already faces a hostile neighbour on its western border. In the north, China is a major threat. In this geopolitical setting the kind of relationship India has developed with Bangladesh becomes important. The military coup of August 1975 in Bangladesh marked a major shift in the way the country perceived its foreign and defence policies. India, its supporter in the liberation war, was now presented as the main threat to national security. A country’s defence policy and defence-related procurements depend on the threat perception of that country. Bangladesh, despite being a poor country, has tried to acquire significant defence capability mainly due to its perceived sense of insecurity and to some extent to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations. Some of the steps taken by Bangladesh purportedly to enhance its own security have meant that the security environment in the region has actually deteriorated. In this context Bangladesh’s security relationship with other major powers has significant implications for Indian security, and the book tries to throw light on it. ISBN: 978 93 91490 15 7 , Price: ₹ 980/- E-copy available Anand Kumar | | Book
India’s Approach to Border Management: From Barriers to Bridges Publisher: KW Publishers This book attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the circumstances which have shaped India’s approach towards its international borders and the framework it has developed to better manage its borders. The book argues that persistence of various cross-border threats and challenges and an absence of robust intra-regional trade among its neighbouring countries forced India to employ a security-centric and unilateral approach to border management with emphasis on hardening the borders to cross-border trade and travel and keeping the border areas underdeveloped to act as a buffer against external conventional threats. However, as India’s economy grew and the country gained more confidence and resources, India started perceiving the borders as bridges rather than barriers. Consequently, greater emphasis was being laid on development of border areas and restoring severed lines of communication with its neighbours through increased investments in building transportation networks both within the border as well as beyond. It also started constructively engaging its neighbours to effectively manage its international borders. Besides discussing the threats and challenges that India faces along the borders, the book aims to develop an understanding of India’s border management practices by analysing various programmes and initiatives such as the raising of border guarding forces; building of physical and electronic fences; the establishment of modern facilities for smoothening legitimate cross-border travel; the development of the border areas through special programmes; and increasing trade and connectivity as well as other cooperative bilateral mechanisms. ISBN: 9789391490003 , Price: ?. 1088/- E-copy available Pushpita Das | | Book
India–China Rivalry: Asymmetric No Longer: An Assessment of China’s Evolving Perceptions of India Publisher: KW Publishers In recent years, there has been growing interest in deciphering the nature and contours of bilateral dynamics between India and China, since the contours bilateral dynamics between the two rising powers have potential implications for the evolving geopolitical order in the region and even beyond. This book is not about understanding the nature of rivalry dynamics between India and China but prominently focuses on China’s mental and emotional image of India, which has remained an underexplored dimension in contemporary scholarship. The aim of the book is two-fold. First, this book is an effort to analyse China’s contemporary perceptual image about India primarily through the analysis of Chinese publications on the subject. Second, this book questions the prevalent notion of characterising India-China rivalry as ‘one-sided’ or ‘asymmetric.’ Unarguably, power asymmetry, with substantial Chinese advantage, has been a persistent characteristic of India-China relations and is likely to remain or even grow further. India, being weaker in this dyad, naturally has a greater threat perception vis-à-vis China. However, this apparent power asymmetry does not provide China with an overwhelming advantage over India. The book argues that India has been and continues to be a ‘strategic rival’ in Chinese perception even though it is not categorised by China as its ‘principal rival.’ In the contemporary period, as India expands its defence capabilities, extends its regional outreach and deepens its engagement with major powers, Beijing has begun to factor New Delhi into its strategic calculus even more seriously. ISBN: 978-93-91490-01-0 , Price: ?. 980/- E-copy available Abhay Kumar Singh | | Book
CDS and Beyond Integration of the Indian Armed Forces Publisher: KW Publishers Defence reforms are a challenge for most countries. The lessons from India’s experience suggest that major change has almost always been mandated from the very top. The ongoing structural changes are also being driven by the highest political office in a bid to seek integration, indigenisation and greater effectiveness of the armed forces. The ongoing military reforms began with the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of the Department of Military Affairs. Future changes are likely to include the creation of theatre commands, functional commands, restructuring of Army Headquarters and a number of other associated shifts in conjunction with these big bang reforms. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these changes are perhaps the most far-reaching military reforms in India’s post-independence history. The book undertakes a focussed assessment of the changes that commenced with the appointment of CDS. This includes the role and inter-se co-relation between major stake holders and defence departments. Keeping in view the need to enhance operational effectiveness, recommendations regarding the chain of command, rank structures and role of service chiefs have been made. The book will also analyse the structure and role of the future Air Defence and Logistics Command. ISBN: 978 819 52 858 4 6 , Price: ?. 918/- E-copy available Vivek Chadha | | Book
China’s Agricultural and Industrial Policies in 1971* The performance of the agricultural and industrial sectors during 1971 acquires an added significance as 1971 happens to be the first year of China’s ambitious Fourth Five-Year Plan. This Plan visualized new dimensions for the policies in these two basic sectors. This policy has aimed at optimum utilization of all factors of productions increasing the operational efficiency of both peasants and industrial labour through material incentives like private plots T. Sreedhara Rao | January 2021 | Strategic Analysis
Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison, by Ahmet T. Kuru, Bruce E. Porteous Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University, is a recent book on economics and history that compares the history of Islam and Europe, and through it, finds the roots of authoritarianism and its role in (under)development. Kuru seeks to answer the question why Islamic societies, as developed before the ninth century, gradually took the path of decline and underdevelopment, and this trend has continued to this day. Javad Heiran-Nia | January 2021 | Strategic Analysis
