What are India, Iran, and Afghanistan’s Benefits from the Chabahar Port Agreement? Over the last decade we have seen a race to build ports in the Indian Ocean as the two Asian powerhouses, China and India, compete to assert their regional influence. The newest addition to this power struggle is the Chabahar Port, located in Chabahar, a coastal town in the Sistan–Baluchistan region in south-eastern Iran, next to the Gulf of Oman, and at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz (Figure 1). Its strategic importance and economic value have drawn attention from many countries; however, India was the quickest to secure a deal to develop the port. Shawn Amirthan | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Subsystemic Unipolarities? Power Distribution and State Behaviour in South America and Southern Africa This article explores the possibility of conceiving South America and Southern Africa as subsystemic unipolarities under Brazilian and South African primacy, respectively. It argues that this concept, when applied to these regions, sheds light not only on the long-term strategies behind the Brazilian and South African foreign policies towards their neighbourhood, but also on the behaviour of secondary regional powers and small states. This hypothesis questions the maxim that considerations related to polarity affect great powers only. Luis Leandro Schenoni | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Has Nigeria Defeated Boko Haram? An Appraisal of the Counter-Terrorism Approach under the Buhari Administration One of the campaign promises of President Muhammadu Buhari was that he would eliminate Boko Haram six months after assumption of office. By December 2015, the Buhari-led government gave itself a pass mark for countering the terrorists. The government declared that the group had been ‘technically defeated’. This declaration has led to debates in the public space as to the veracity of this claim. This article aims to critically appraise the on-going attempt to eliminate the Boko Haram threat under the Buhari administration. Hakeem Onapajo | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Preventive Diplomacy and the Role of Civil Maritime Security Cooperation in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia’s international shipping lanes (ISL) are essential to the economic security of the Asia-Pacific region. Maintaining good order at sea serves to protect regional trade and can be achieved through collaboration between civil maritime security agencies (coast guards). Japan and China both have significant coast guard capabilities and diplomatic influence in the region that could be harnessed to promote civil maritime security cooperation with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). James D. Llewelyn | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Insurgency, Drugs and Small Arms in Myanmar The many links between drugs, small arms and insurgency have been widely discussed and addressed by scholars. The literature in particular has convincingly shown how several insurgent groups in Myanmar have used the drug business to finance and sustain their violent movements. Funds generated from drug production and circulation help the insurgent groups to procure arms, and are widely believed to be supporting the protracted nature of these movements. Anshuman Behera | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
US Security Strategy of Asian Rebalance: India’s Role and Concerns China’s aggressive rise and strained relations with its Asia-Pacific neighbours—a region with immense economic and strategic potential—have forced the US to forge a strategy of Asian rebalance. Besides making China suspicious, this strategy has aroused the possibility of a new cold war. In contrast, though India’s relations with China have improved considerably since the 1962 War, the unresolved border issue and the threatening Chinese attitude do not allow India to trust China. Annpurna Nautiyal | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Smart diplomacy: exploring China-India synergy, by P.S. Suryanarayana In Smart Diplomacy: Exploring China-India Synergy, P.S. Suryanarayana has sought to answer the questions: ‘Will China and India live at peace with each other? Will they be able to overcome the deficit of trust between them? Will they be able to find amicable solutions to their disputes over their borders, Pakistan, Tibet, rivers, and trade, etc.?’ (p. iv). These questions, raised by Ambassador Tommy Koh in his foreword to the book, concern all those who want a stable and productive future for the two countries that Suryanarayana characterizes as the sunrise powers of the 21st century. Prashant Kumar Singh | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Sub-Regionalism in South Asia: A Case Study of the Bangladesh–Bhutan–Nepal–India Motor Vehicles Agreement This article has two parts. The first part aims at analysing why nations are increasingly going beyond their multilateral and regional moorings to secure and advance their national interests. In doing so, why and how do they indulge in sub-regional engagements? It has been empirically seen across the board in almost every part of the world that sub-regional growth initiatives play a significant role in regional integration. Vikash Kumar | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
New south Asian security: six core relations underpinning regional security, by Chris Ogden Theorising about international relations in South Asia is a daunting task for any scholar of International Relations. The challenge lies in explaining the causal forces behind state behaviour, in order to illuminate a pattern for arriving at an understanding of these relations in a parsimonious manner. Medha Bisht | January 2017 | Strategic Analysis
Role of Earth Observation Satellites in Counter-Infiltration It is highly recommended that a range of nano and pico satellites be manufactured and their employment integrated with the border management system. Amit Mukherjee | December 30, 2016 | IDSA Comments
