West Asia in Turmoil : Implications for Global Security

Publisher: Academic Foundation
ISBN 13 : 978-81-7188-626-5
ISBN 10 : 81-7188-626-4
Rs. 895
US $ 69.95

ABOUT THE BOOK

West Asia is in the throes of acute political turbulence today. Given West Asia’s energy resources, developments in the region have profound implications for the wider world. The international community has been deeply concerned with the fragile conditions of the region in recent years. This book tries to analyse the evolving security environment in West Asia and its implication for global security. This edited volume discusses critical issues of our times: religious extremism, democratization, WMD proliferation, international terrorism, external intervention in the region, and energy security. The articles in the book analyse these issues critically and suggest possible alternatives for securing peace and prosperity in West Asia.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

N.S. Sisodia is Director, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He holds an Honours degree in History from University of Delhi and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Management from Harvard University, USA, where he was a Mason Fellow. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1968 and served as Additional Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat, and Secretary to Government of India in the Ministries of Finance and Defence. He was a member of the Task Force constituted to recommend measures for reforming the Management of Defence. He has also been Vice Chancellor, University of Udaipur.

He has co-edited Emerging India: Security and Foreign Policy Perspectives (2005), India and the World (2005), Changing Security Dynamic in Eastern Asia: Focus on Japan (2005) and India – Japan Relations: Partnership for Peace and Security in Asia (2006).
Ashok K. Behuria is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He has done his Ph.D. on International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University and has published chapters in books and written many articles on issues related to national and international politics and security in various research journals and magazines of repute. His recent publications on West Asia include occasional papers on West Asia, titled Reconstructing Iraq: The Challenges Ahead, President Khatami’s India Visit: Reconstructing India-Iran Relations.

CONTENTS IN DETAIL

West Asia: Impact on the Global Security System
–Pranab Mukherjee (Minister of External Affairs, Government of India)
Preface

Section I
West Asia and the International Security Environment

1. Changing Security Dynamics in West Asia: Implications for the Region and the World
   Hamid Ansari
2. Military Power: The Elusive Answer
   Sari Nusseibeh
3. The International Strategic Medial Path: West Asia in a Global Security Context
   Jaffar Mirghani Ahmed
4. Security and Development in West Asia: Need for New Thinking
   Mostafa Zahrani
5. The Post-9/11 Security Predicament in West Asia: The Imperatives for Ending External Intervention Akmal Hussain

Section II
Regional Security: Different Perceptions

6. West Asia Security Policies after 9/11: A Case Study of GCC Countries
   Faisal O. Al-Rfouh
7. The Security Challenges in the Mediterranean Area and their Links with Western Asia Smail Benamara
8. Maritime Terrorism off the Arabian Peninsula: A Post-Limburg Security Assessment
   Gurpreet S. Khurana
9. The Human Aspect of Regional Security: A View from North Africa
   Ahmed A. Al-Atrash
10. The Palestine-Israeli Issue and the Regional Security in West Asia
    Chen Shuangqing
11. The New Government in Iran: Implications for International Security
    Premarani Somasundram
12. Threats to Stability in Asia: Special Focus on West Asia
    Marian Abisheva

Section III
Energy and Security: The Political Economy of Energy

13. Gas Pipelines: Drawing Fresh lines on the Map
    Talmiz Ahmad
14. India’s Energy Security: Concepts and Measures
    A. F. Alhajji
15. Asia’s Energy Quest: Redefining the Security Dynamics of West Asia
    Girijesh Pant
16. Geopolitics of Energy Resources in the Arabian Gulf
    Mohamed Noman Galal

Section IV
WMD and the Nuclear Dynamic in West Asia

17. Israel’s Nuclear Weapons Policy
    Cameron S. Brown
18. Iran and the Problems of Non-Proliferation in West Asia
    Abdusamat Khaydarov
19. US-Iran Relations: Confrontation or Rapprochement
    Basant Repswal
20. Dynamics of Global-Regional Concerns on Proliferation: The Case of Iran
    Nobumasa Akiyama

Section V
Political Reforms and Popular Participation: Regional and Extra-regional Approaches

21. Democratising the Middle East Democracy Promotion as a Means of Achieving International Security? Dietrich Jung
22. The Political Reforms in West Asia after 9-11
    Sahar A. Al-Majali
23. Political Reforms in Saudi Arabia: The Prospects
    Gulshan Dietl
24. Turkey’s Democratic Experience and Its Influence on Regional Muslim Countries In the Post-9/11 Era Siret Hürsoy

Section VI
Non-Traditional Challenges to Security: The West Asian Experience

25. Fundamentalism and Democracy
    Emmanuel Sivan
26. Jihadist Insurgency and the Crisis of Legitimacy in the Islamic World
    Joseph McMillan
27. Religious Terrorism: Territorialised and De-territorialised
    Ryoji Tateyama
28. Water Resources Issue in the Middle East Conflict
    Bakhtiyar Mirkasymov

Section VII
India and West Asia

29. India and West Asia: A Diplomats’ Perspective
    S.K. Singh
30. Changing World Order and West Asia: A View from India
    Ashok K. Behuria
31. Managing Foreign Workforce in the Gulf: Redefining the Rules of Engagement
    N. Janardhan
32. India and West Asia: Past and Future
    A.K. Pasha

Contributors to this Volume

Marian Abisheva is a Deputy Director for Science at the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She was earlier Academic Secretary of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She is a Ph.D. in Political Science. She wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on “Factors of Social Security in the Context of Provision of Internal Political Stability of Kazakhstan Society” in 2004. She has published more than 20 articles on issues relating to national security, globalisation and intercultural cooperation, and the internal policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Talmiz Ahmad is the Director General of Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India. He is a career diplomat and has been the Official Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Joint Secretary (Gulf/Hajj) and Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. He was also Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Mr. Talmiz Ahmad has a special interest in political Islam and Islamic affairs in general, as also the politics of West Asia. He has published a monograph titled: An Introduction to Contemporary Islamic Groups and Movements in India. His book titled: Reform in the Arab World External Influences and Regional Debates was released in July 2005.

Jaffar Mirghani Ahmed is the Director General, Sudan Civilization Institute. He has been the Head of Department, Linguistics, in the International University of Africa. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Ben Saud in Riyadh, University of Chad, Islamic University of Omdurman, Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Abbaba, Sudan Higher Institute and Burgeiba Institute in Tunisia. He has published many papers in different fields of studies, i.e., Linguistics, Phonetics, Language Studies, Social History, Islamic Studies and Cultural Aspects.

Nobumasa Akiyama is a Senior Research Fellow at CPDNP, Japan Institute of International Affairs, Tokyo. He has been the Advisor to the Japanese delegation to the May 2005 NPT Review Conference; Research Advisor to Ambassador Endo, the Japanese Representative to IAEA’s expert group on Multilateral Nuclear Approaches (October 2004–March 2005); and Member of Non-Proliferation Study Group of Japan Atomic Industry Forum (November 2004). He has book chapters and various articles in journals of repute to his credit.

Ahmed Ali Salem Al-Atrash is a Faculty and Researcher at the Political Science Department, Al-Fateh University, Libya. He is also the Deputy Director, Centre for International and Strategic Studies, Academy for Graduate Studies, Libya. He obtained his Ph.D. in International Relations, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK (2000). Dr. Al-Atrash has published articles in English as well as in Arabic. His major publications are on Peacemaking in Africa as a Challenge, Resolving Conflicts: A Non-Western Perspective, Libya’s Peacemaking Efforts in Africa and Future of Peaceful Management of Regional Conflicts in the Context of Afro-Arab Space, Arab Summits: An Arena for Inter-Arab Conflicts or Conflict Management? (2003) and Diplomacy and Arab-China Relations: From Theory to Practice (2005).

Sahar A.M. Al-Majali is the Vice President of the Gandhi Center for Strategic Peace Studies and Lecturer at the Faculty of Arts, Al-Zaytoonah University Jordan, and Lecturer/General Administration in the Royal Jordanian Army. Dr. Al-Majali has also served as a Colonel (Cornelle) in the Jordanian Armed Forces from 1986 till 2004. Dr. Al-Majali’s publications include The Arab Legion: 1921-1951: Its Role in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Volume I, II. (ed.), Amman, Jordan (Arabic Version), and The Development of the Arabian Army in Andalusia, (138-422AH/756-1031 AD), (Ist. ed.), Amman-Jordan (Arabic Version).

Faisal Odeh Al-Rfouh is working as Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Jordan. He has also served as Minister of Culture (1999-2000), Minister of Social Development (1999) and was also Acting Minister of Labour as well as Health in the same year. He was awarded “Ambassador for Peace” by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, “Man of the Year 1999” by the American Biographical Institute and its Board of International Research, and “The Arab Historian Medal” by the Union of Arab Historians. He has several publications to his credit in various journals like, Defense Journal, Middle East Peace Initiative and Journal of Political Science.

A.F. Alhajji is an Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business Administration, Ohio Northern University. He previously worked at two universities that are strongly affiliated with the oil industry, the University of Oklahoma and Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Alhajji has more than 300 articles and columns to his credit. He focuses on issues relating to international economics, natural resource economics, environment, and oil industry. His research interest also includes trade policy and globalisation, education policy, and human capital. He is a contributing editor for World Oil. He is an Associate Editor for Oil, Gas, and Energy Law. In addition, he was the energy columnist for Alwatan daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Alhajji developed PetroTrade, a computer programme to assist oil producing countries in determining their trade policies in today’s volatile market.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chairman of the National Minority Commission, India. Mr. Ansari had joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1961. He was Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, High Commission to Australia, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1984. He has been the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and a Visiting Professor at the Centre for West Asian and African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Academy for Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Mr. Ansari has edited Iran Today: Twenty-five Years After the Islamic Revolution (New Delhi, 2005), and has written a number of academic papers and newspaper articles on West Asian politics.

Smail Benamara is currently Algerian Ambassador to Canada. He has also been Director of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations, Algiers and Ambassador of Algeria to Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Cap-Vert (1996-2003). Ambassador Benamara is a member of several international associations and has published various articles on law and international relations.

Cameron S. Brown is the Deputy Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, a part of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Mr. Brown focuses on Israel, US Middle East policy, the Arab World, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. His commentary has been published in papers such as the Chicago Sun-Times, Newsday and Canada’s National Post.
Mr. Brown lectures occasionally at the NATO School in Germany and has spoken at research centres and universities in the United States, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.

Gulshan Dietl is a Professor at Centre for West Asian and African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She also serves as the Director, the Gulf Studies Programme at the University. She has been a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York (1993-94), a Guest Research Fellow at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (1998-99). She is Joint Secretary of the Indian Association of Central and West Asian Studies, Member and Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Human Rights Global Focus. Her publications include The Dulles Era: America Enters West Asia (Lancer International, New Delhi, 1985), Through Two Wars and Beyond: A Study of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Lancer Books, New Delhi, 1991).

Mohamed Noman Galal is an advisor for Strategic International Studies and Dialogue of Civilizations, Bahrain Center for Studies and Research. He has been in the Egyptian Foreign Service for 38 years and occupied many posts including Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Permanent Representative to the League of Arab States, Ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador to China and Assistant Foreign Minister for Policy Planning.

Dr. Galal has authored around 26 books on Arab, International and Asian issues as well as Human rights with a special study on human rights in Islam. Among his recent books are: Neo-realism in Arab Thought; Strategy, Diplomacy and Protocol and Diplomacy of International Dialogue. He writes regularly in Alahram and Algoumhoria newspapers in Egypt as well as occasionally in other Arab and Chinese papers and journals. He is a part-time professor of international relations and international organisations.

Siret Hürsoy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at the Ege University, Turkey. Dr. Hürsoy served as a research and teaching assistant between 1998-2000 at Ege University–Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Later, he completed his Ph.D. at the end of 2002 by receiving his degree from Philipps-Universität Marburg–Gesellschaftswissenschaften und Philosophie, Fachbereich Politikwissenschaft (Germany). His main fields of specialisation and research interests are: international relations theories, European Union (integration theories), foreign and security policy analysis, and war and defence studies. He has many publications to his credit including a book titled NATO’s Transformation and the Position of Turkey, (Ege University Press, Izmir, 2004).

Akmal Hussain is a Professor of International Relations in the Dhaka University and he did his Ph.D. from the Institute of Law, Academy of Sciences, Prague. He has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), Japan and a Visiting Professor at the University of Rajasthan. Prof. Hussain has about 25 publications in national and international journals and chapters in edited volumes as well. In addition to these articles, he has one research monograph and two books in vernacular on current issues. He is also a regular contributor to leading newspapers on current national and global issues. In addition, he has edited the Journal of International Relations (until 2004) and the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1996 and 1997). He is also a regular speaker at the National Defence College of Bangladesh.

N. Janardhan is the Editor of the Gulf in the Media at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, UAE. He was formerly with The Asian Age daily in New Delhi and The Gulf Today in Sharjah, UAE, and was the Gulf correspondent for the Inter Press Service (Asia-Pacific), Bangkok. His doctoral thesis was “The Al-Sabahs and the Kuwaiti National Assembly–The Legitimacy factor” (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 2001). Dr. Janardhan has had over 300 articles published in Indian and Middle East newspapers.

Dietrich Jung is a Senior Research Fellow at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen and an External Associate Professor at the Institute for Sociology, University of Copenhagen. He holds an M.A. in Political Science and Islamic Studies, as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Jung has been teaching Political Science, Sociology and Middle Eastern Studies at Aarhus University (Denmark), Bilkent University (Ankara), and the Universities of Copenhagen, Hamburg and Southern Denmark. He is editor of the Palgrave Series on Governance, Security and Development and he has published on causes of war, theories of world society and on conflicts in the Middle East. His most recent books are Shadow Globalization, Ethnic Conflicts and New Wars: A Political Economy of Intra State Wars (Routledge, 2003), Contemporary Security Analysis and Copenhagen Peace Research (Routledge, 2004: co-edited with Stefano Guzzini), and The Middle East and Palestine, Global Politics and Regional Conflict (Palgrave, 2004).

Abdusamat Khaydarov is at present Faculty, Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies. He has had a distinguished diplomatic career ever since he completed his studies from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the former USSR. He also has a degree from Diplomatic Academy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the former USSR. He has been Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Georgia, USA (2004-05), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1999-2000), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) (1996-1999). He has a number of scientific works and publications on international relations, Afghanistan, Iran, Central and South Asia.

Gurpreet S. Khurana is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, India. Commander Khurana is a specialist in Missile Warfare and Gunnery and a qualified Ship’s Diving Officer. His research interests include maritime security issues, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region and Laws of the Sea. His published papers have encompassed issues like sea-line security, sea-piracy, maritime terrorism, other non-traditional maritime threats, imperatives for naval sealift and airlift capabilities, Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), Container Security Initiative (CSI) and security in the Malacca Straits.

Joseph McMillan is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, focusing on issues related to terrorism, the greater Middle East, and South Asia. He has been associated with NDU since August 2001, first as a Visiting Research Fellow at INSS and later as academic chairman of the Near East-South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. He has published a number of articles and book chapters on foreign and security affairs.

Bakhtiyar Mirkasymov is the Head of the Asia-Pacific Department in Russia’s Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) which does research and analytical work for different government organisations. He has held this position since 2002. Prior to his current appointment, Bakhtiyar Mirkasymov worked as Senior Research Fellow in RISS. He began his career in Tashkent in the Uzbek branch of the Union of Soviet Friendship Societies having graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (international economic relations faculty) in 1974. He has authored several articles on the current political problems pertaining to religious extremism and security in the Persian Gulf which were published in various Russian and foreign publications.

Pranab Mukherjee, currently the External Affairs Minister of India, is the President of the Executive Council of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). He was educated at Vidyasagar College, University of Calcutta, where he received his Bachelor of Law (LLB), Masters (History and Political Science) and D.Litt (Honoris Causa) degrees. He has held various important portfolios in the Union Cabinet. He was Minister of Defence, Deputy Minister for Industrial Development (1973-74); Deputy Minister for Shipping and Transport (January 1974-October 1974); Minister of State for Finance (1974-75); Commerce and Steel and Mines (1980-1982); Minister of Finance (1982-1984); Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission (1991-1996); and Minister for External Affairs (1995-96). He was also on the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (1982-85), the World Bank (1982-1985), and the Asian Development Bank (1982-1985). Mr. Mukherjee is also the Leader of the House (Lok Sabha), from June 2004 till date.

Sari Nusseibeh is a Professor of Philosophy and President of the Arab Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University (1978). Formerly Professor at Birzeit University (1978-1990) and until December 2002, the representative of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. Along with Ami Ayalon, he is a co-founder of The People’s Voice, an Israeli-Palestinian civil initiative, which aims to advance the process of achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He is also the Head and Founder of the Palestinian Consultancy Group (PCG), Jerusalem, and is a co-founder and member of several Palestinian institutions. He is the author of numerous articles and a book co-authored with Mark Heller, No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Solution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Hill & Wand, New York, 1991).

Girijesh Pant is the Chairperson and Professor at the Centre of West Asian and African Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Dr. Pant is a renowned academician and specialist in issues related to economics and energy. He has authored and edited over 8 books, and has published more than 50 articles in various journals. His specialisation includes Political Economy of Development, West Asian Economies and Hydrocarbon Economics.

A.K. Pasha is a Professor at the Centre for West Asian and African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has served as Director, Gulf Studies Programme, and Director, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo. A prolific writer, Dr. Pasha has published 10 books, edited 8 and co-edited 2 books. He has also contributed chapters to over 17 edited books, and articles in various academic journals. His latest books include, Iraq: Sanctions and Wars (New Delhi, 2003), and Egypt in a Changing World (New Delhi, 2003).

Basant Repswal, a serving Colonel in the Indian army, was a Research Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, India. Colonel Basant Repswal was commissioned in the Indian Army on December 15, 1984 and during his service career served as logistic officer with United Nations (UNIFIL) in Lebanon (1998-99) and his areas of expertise include Terrorism, Military Logistics and Strategy, and Implications of International Terrorism on India.

Chen Shuangqing is at present Research Fellow in the West Asian and African Division, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). He was in charge of research on the Middle East Peace Process, the Foreign Policy of Israel and Palestinian Authority. He has published about 200 articles on Middle Eastern issues in some famous journals and newspapers in China, such as World Affairs, Contemporary International Relations, Beijing Review, People’s Daily, etc. He has also co-authored 15 books.

S.K. Singh, formerly Foreign Secretary of India, has a firm understanding of the West Asian politics. He has been India’s longest-serving Ambassador to Pakistan from 1985 until 1989. He also served as Ambassador to Austria, Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus. At the moment, he is the Governor of the Indian province of Arunanchal Pradesh.

Emmanuel Sivan is a Professor of Islamic History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has authored many books on contemporary Islam. His publications include, Radical Islam, The 1948 Generation, and Mythes Politiques Arabes. In the late 1980s, he was among the first scholars to begin to look at radical forms of Islamic movements that were generated from the Iranian revolution. He has also written more than 150 articles and chapters, and one of his areas of expertise is Islamic conceptions of the sanctity of Jerusalem. Sivan is a regular commentator on Islamic movements for Israeli television and writes prolifically for the Israeli press.

Premarani Somasundram is a Senior Fellow with the Contemporary Islam Programme at the Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She has worked at Singapore’s Ministry of Defence and also served a term as Counsellor in the Singapore Embassy in Washington, DC. Her research interests include Islamism in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Ryoji Tateyama is working at Graduate School of Security Studies and Department of International Relations, National Defense Academy, Japan. He is also Visiting Professor, Aoyama-Gakuin University. He was previously Chief Researcher at the Japanese Institute of Middle Eastern Economies, Head of Administration and Special Project Officer United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) HQs, Vienna and Amman and Special Assistant at the Embassy of Japan, Tel Aviv, Israel. He has published many books which include, A Jewish State and Post-Zionism (Bungei-shinju-sha, Tokyo, 2000), Prospects for Peace in the Middle East (Chuo-Koron-sha, Tokyo, 1995), Jerusalem (Shincho-sha, 1993, Tokyo), Israel and Palestine: Searching for a Settlement of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Chuo-Koron-Sha, Tokyo, 1989) and has edited a book titled Middle East (Jiyu-Kokumin-sha, Tokyo, 1998). He has written numerous articles in various international journals on matters concerning the Middle East and West Asia.

Mostafa Zahrani is a member of Iranian foreign ministry since 1981 and has been teaching in the School of International Relations since 1993. He has also been the Director General of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) in Tehran. His major recent publications include, Theories of Economic Sanction and New International Trends; others such as State Sovereignty in the Age of Globalization, Second Order Change and Decision Making in War Termination: Iran-Iraq War are under publication.