Publication Filter

Satellite for SAARC: Pakistan’s Missed Opportunity

SAARC satellite was an opportunity for Pakistan to display its enthusiasm for space cooperation with India, but its strategic calculations appear to have ‘jammed’ its vision.

Ajey Lele
April 19, 2016
IDSA Comments

Continued Israeli Settlement Policy in the Occupied Territories

Settler entrenchment has reached a point where no peaceful assimilation of the entire West Bank into a compact territory of a future Palestine state and a harmonious division of Jerusalem city linked to this entity may be possible.

Gautam Sen
April 19, 2016
IDSA Comments

Revisiting the 1965 War

The 1965 war was an unexpected one, forced on India by Pakistan. Yet, India rose as one to face the threat to her safety and integrity, and defeated the designs of Pakistan to wrest Kashmir. Fought mainly on our western border, the geopolitical ramifications of the war attracted international attention and reactions of the major world powers, mainly for ending the war. While the actual fighting stopped on 23 September1965 (there were a few actions after it also), the final curtain was drawn in January 1966 at Tashkent.

Equilibrium in Higher Defence Organisation and the Need for Restructuring

The article deals with the issue of the necessity of identifying and maintaining equilibrium between the two key constituents of the higher defence organisation (HDO) of the country, namely, the civil bureaucrats and the service officers. In India, the military and the bureaucracy share a very delicate relationship. Though the protocol issues between the various appointments have been defined by the government, there is a requirement of greater clarity in the working relationship between them.

Peacekeeping or Peace Enforcement: Principal Dilemma Surrounding United Nations Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic Of Congo

The TCC have to shed their colonial legacies and participate in UN peacekeeping on equal terms rather than merely being service providers. It is necessary that the UNSC decisions are more inclusive and reflective of the new world order.

Security Council Resolution 2292 on Libya: Respite or Hazard?

Libya today is a highly fragmented state with porous borders and unidentified alliance formations. In this scenario, a resolution to partially lift the arms embargo may have widespread undesirable consequences.

Untitled
April-June 2016
Africa Trends

The Mauritius-India Naval Relationship: Naval Diplomacy 2.0

At relatively little cost to either party, a mutually beneficial partnership has evolved over the decades, with the NCG and India being inextricably intertwined. It is to the credit of both countries that this relationship has lasted and thrived and continues to grow stronger without undue fanfare or hype and without, thus far, any tangible problems.

War and State-Building in Afghanistan: Historical and Modern Perspectives, edited by Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy

War and State-Building in Afghanistan deals with one of South Asia’s most turbulent states, Afghanistan, and its socio-political and military conditions. This book also traces the processes that have shaped the geopolitics of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been occupied by the Mughals, British, Soviets, Americans and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The book looks at their efforts at counter-insurgency (COIN) operations in the last five centuries ranging from 1520 to 2012.

The Importance of the Spies in Ancient Indian Diplomacy

Intelligence studies is a sub-discipline of international relations though in India, the subject is yet to become part of the academic curriculum. The topic has been covered in detail in Kautilya’s Arthashastra. In ancient Indian traditions, intelligence has always been an important part of statecraft. The book under review is written in Hindi, aided with Sanskrit sutras as notes.

1962: The War That Wasn’t, by Kunal Verma

The title of the book is self-explanatory. And the tone and tenor thereof is an implied challenge to the conventional wisdom, and thesis, propounded in India’s China War, written by British scribe Neville Maxwell in the 1970s. According to Verma, in 1949, ‘China was not a player as far as India’s national security was concerned.’ None, except Sardar Patel, could read, or anticipate, China and its plan of action. Hence, the 1962 India–China conflict is ‘least understood’. Exactly a month before his death, however, Patel wrote a warning letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru.