Indian Ocean Perspectives: From Sea Power to Ocean Prosperity Long before the Atlantic and the Pacific became theatres for commerce and conflict, the Indian Ocean was home to considerable commercial and cultural intercourse. Most recent literature has, however, focused on maritime security and sea power while greater attention ought to be paid to economic development around the Indian Ocean. India’s plans for the development of the ‘Blue Economy’ augurs well for the region. Sanjaya Baru | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
Actions Speak Louder than Words: China’s Consultative Peacekeeping in Africa Existing concepts (e.g. ‘non-interference’ and ‘pragmatism’) remain too vague to provide explanations for China’s increasingly assertive security policy. To avoid this pitfall, this article adopts a narrower focus on Chinese security policy towards Africa. Ivo Ganchev | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
Theorizing EU-TRACECA Relationship in Eurasian Context This article contends that the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) is European Union’s (EU) most visionary trans-regional connectivity project. It theorizes the EU-TRACECA relationship to show that the TRACECA represents different regional integration concepts, and that the EU scripted it invariably for the mutual benefits of its partner states. Conceptually optimistic, the article, nonetheless, discovers certain inextricable complications in the TRACECA’s real working for varying economic profiles of and mutual conflicts among its member countries. Mushtaq A. Kaw | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
CDS: A Pragmatic Blueprint Required for Implementation The blueprint for the operationalisation of CDS would require intensive deliberation to make sure that no aspect of its implementation is left unaddressed. Amit Cowshish | August 30, 2019 | IDSA Comments
Appointment of Chief of Defence Staff: A Historic Decision The decision to appoint CDS is an important milestone in India’s quest for complete integration of its defence forces; a significant step towards seamless coordination, better efficiency, and greater effectiveness of the national defence architecture in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy | August 29, 2019 | IDSA Comments
‘No First Use’ is Not Sacrosanct: Need a Theatre-Specific Posture for Flexible Options Nuclear doctrines and postures are dynamic processes that evolve with the security environment. Twenty years after India’s nuclear doctrine was first drafted, the time is ripe for a comprehensive review and suitable revisions. A. Vinod Kumar | August 27, 2019 | Issue Brief
Hong Kong on the Edge The current impasse in Hong Kong poses the most serious challenge to the Chinese leadership since the territory’s integration with the mainland. The “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement appears to be at crossroads, set to be consigned to the archives well before its expiry date. G.G. Dwivedi | August 27, 2019 | IDSA Comments
In Favour of Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board As a corporatised entity, the OFB will be in a far better position to respond to the market dynamics and face the competition effectively. Laxman Kumar Behera | August 21, 2019 | IDSA Comments
Will India Ally with America? India’s decision to ally with America would be contingent upon the degree of convergence between their positions on core issues and the extent of military assistance needed in a two-front war scenario. S. Kalyanaraman | August 20, 2019 | IDSA Comments
Finally a CDS for the Indian Armed Forces While the scope of responsibility of the CDS is being worked out, it would be instructive to see what changes could be implemented immediately within the current organisational structures through greater jointness, before getting into the gamut of full integration which should be the logical end state. Alok Deb | August 19, 2019 | IDSA Comments
