China’s Strategic Culture and Sino-US Military Relations: A Re-view China’s strategic culture professes both peace and aggression, but is also marked by ruse and deception. Military power is a necessary ingredient of great power status and China’s current rise includes hi-tech military modernisation that can challenge the only contender it has in the Asia-Pacific, the United States. Sanjukta Banerji Bhattacharya | July 2011 | Journal of Defence Studies
The Military Confidence Building Measures Strategy Across the Taiwan Strait On December 31, 2008, the President of China, Hu Jintao, gave an important speech on the eve of the 30th anniversary of “A letter to the Taiwan compatriots” dated January 1, 1979, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Dr. Shen Ming Shih | July 2011 | Journal of Defence Studies
SIMI Regrouping: A Reality Check The recent activities of SIMI as well as its suspected links with groups like the Popular Front of India and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity and even the Indian Mujahideen suggest that it is regrouping to undertake terrorist attacks in different parts of India. Anshuman Behera | July 15, 2011 | IDSA Comments
The Mumbai Terrorist Attacks Although on the ground the areas of conflict are specific and do not cover the entire landmass as a map would indicate, the incoherence of the state’s response makes it appear that India is at war with itself. Kishalay Bhattacharjee | July 15, 2011 | IDSA Comments
Terrorist Attacks: How Long Should India just Wring its Hand in Despair? There is a need to conclusively revisit the issue of India’s response, and other pro-active measures, to deter and forestall terrorist attacks in future. P. K. Upadhyay | July 15, 2011 | IDSA Comments
OIC Astana Session: Emphasising Change and Action Though the Astana meeting reflected a change in the OIC’s approach and understanding of the issues and problems of the Islamic world, lack of concrete action would lead to a further loss of credibility for the organisation. Prasanta Kumar Pradhan | July 14, 2011 | IDSA Comments
No Time for Finger-Pointing: Taking a Long View after the Mumbai Blasts Much has been written about terrorism and counterterrorism as forms of communication, but such analyses are usually jettisoned in the arena of “breaking news alerts” and real-time reporting. Ellie B. Hearne | July 14, 2011 | IDSA Comments
China’s Strategic Vision and the PLA’s Rise The aim of this paper is to examine the rising power of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in China’s strategic vision. Since the founding of new China in 1949, there have been instances of PLA leaders challenging the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership. But on each instance the Party prevailed emphatically. The dictum “The Party commands the gun, and the army protects the Party” is still very much in place. In the last two decades, however, the relationship between the Party and the PLA has undergone some significant changes. Bhaskar Roy | July 2011 | Journal of Defence Studies
India-Pakistan Dialogue: Cautious Optimism, Lots of Scepticism Pakistan’s conciliatory approach towards India is tactical and could change rapidly if the army decides that its interests are better served through a more offensive posture. Sushant Sareen | July 13, 2011 | IDSA Comments
The Last Space Shuttle Flight The US is stopping the shuttle programme by design and not for want of technology or money; nor does discontinuing the space shuttle indicate that the US has lost the space race. Ajey Lele | July 13, 2011 | IDSA Comments
