Publication Filter

India’s First Step Towards Regulating Drones

The Civilian Aviation Requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, though fairly well drafted, constitute only a stop gap measure for regulating drone operations in the civil sector.

Atul Pant
October 31, 2018
IDSA Comments

Making Private Companies Accountable For Breach of User Private Data

Mega data breaches of user’s private digital data in the last two years has drawn the world’s attention towards protection, safe custody and management of this extremely valuable commodity.

Ashish Chhibbar
October 24, 2018
IDSA Comments

Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Relations – the drivers and challenges

While Pakistan clearly seeks to maintain cordial relations with Iran, it is unlikely that it would be willing to incur the displeasure of Saudi Arabia with which it has greater economic and strategic links.

Nazir Ahmad Mir
October 24, 2018
IDSA Comments

Khashoggi Affair Unlikely to Affect US-Saudi Strategic Ties

Two factors explain Washington’s lack of enthusiasm for sanctioning Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi affair despite domestic and international pressure.

The Jamal Khashoggi Affair

Riyadh committed a crime and blunder; its communication strategy, so far, has been an unmitigated disaster. MbS is facing a challenge, to put it mildly.

K. P. Fabian
October 23, 2018
IDSA Comments

India-Russia Summit: Reading Between the Lines

The 19th bilateral summit has left a mixed feeling about the current state of the Indo-Russian relationship and its future prospects.

Aleksei Zakharov
October 18, 2018
IDSA Comments

How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century, by Shyam Saran

One of the first lessons a student of international politics is introduced to is that foreign policy is a compendium of continuity and change, of static and dynamic co-existence, mired in the national interest of the nation state. In the Indian context, in particular, the first political theorist the same student studies is the realist ancient thinker Kautilya. These elementary but indispensable lessons form the basis of Shyam Saran’s riveting work, How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century.

Repatriation of Rohingya Refugees: An Aberration on India’s Humanitarian Legacy

To force all Rohingyas to return on the grounds of “threat to security” is against India’s humanitarian heritage. The government and its agencies are capable of sifting out Rohingya elements who might actually have links to terror organisations from the rest of the group.

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Causes for Failure and Continuing Relevance

Decades after the deployment of the first peacekeeping operation (PKO)—United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)—in 1948, the United Nations (UN) cannot boast of too many successes. The continued relevance of UN PKOs has thus come under criticism. In order to determine whether UN PKOs are still relevant, it is necessary to obtain a clear understanding of the reasons/factors for their success and failure, and thereafter assess their performance.

The Soul of Armies: Counterinsurgency Doctrine and Military Culture in the US and UK, by Austin Long

This book is a major contribution towards the field of military culture, one which has had shortage of literature traditionally. While the book primarily dwells on the counter-insurgency doctrine and military culture in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), it certainly provides modular lessons for counter-insurgency operations and military organisational behaviour throughout the world. Austin Long’s analysis tries to answer a key question: why are some armies better at counter-insurgency than others?