Kurdistan: Ataturk to Öcalan The rise of Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham (Daesh), or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in the vacuum created by the war in these countries has reignited the Kurdish question that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk skilfully bypassed after World War I, when several nation-states were carved out of the defeated Ottoman Empire. The Kurdish problem began in the early 19th century when the Ottomans centralised the administration, emphasised Turkish identity, erased the autonomous Kurdish emirates and ruthlessly suppressed their protests. Sandhya Jain | January 2016 | Strategic Analysis
Assessing India’s Cyber Resilience: Institutional Stability Matters In this commentary, I will use strategic cyberwar theory1 to explain why India has a higher level of cyber resilience than several of its potential adversaries. Even if India has challenges in its government-led cyber defence,2 there are cyber resilience benefits to be drawn from the way Indian society operates, functions and is constitutionally designed and accepted by its constituents, independently of any cyber defence efforts. First, the concept of strategic cyberwar. Jan Kallberg | January 2016 | Strategic Analysis
The Arab Spring that was and wasn’t When each dictator fell, there was hope that the country might move towards democracy even if the route might prove to be long and difficult. That hope has proved to be a mirage, except in Tunisia. K. P. Fabian | December 31, 2015 | IDSA Comments
2015: A Year of Work-in-Progress for Defence The issues confronting the defence establishment at the beginning of the year broadly related to defence policy, human resource management and operational preparedness. Amit Cowshish | December 29, 2015 | IDSA Comments
For Successful Implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh It is essential in the interest of economic development and smooth rehabilitation of the affected people that funds as part of a comprehensive financial package be devolved to the West Bengal Government at the earliest. Gautam Sen | December 29, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Make in India and the Expanding Scope for India-Japan Defence Cooperation India’s defence modernisation presents enormous opportunities for the Japanese defence industry, which until recently concentrated exclusively on the domestic market in order to demonstrate Japan’s commitment to peace. Titli Basu | December 29, 2015 | IDSA Comments
What to Expect from Modi’s Moscow Visit Modi and Putin are all set not only to straighten the loose ends of existing projects but also bring new big items on the table. P. Stobdan | December 23, 2015 | Issue Brief
Flexibility from Participating Nations – Key to TAPI’s Success The sustenance of the TAPI project would be contingent upon each side’s ability to accommodate the concerns of different stakeholders in the project. Only time will tell if the projects’ stakeholders can demonstrate such an attitude. Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni | December 23, 2015 | IDSA Comments
India’s Defence Trade with Russia It will take just a few deals to be sealed, especially of the co-development/co-production variety, for the present drift in relations being arrested and brought back on an even keel. Amit Cowshish | December 22, 2015 | IDSA Comments
PSLV-C29: Demonstrating India’s Growing Space Capabilities On December 16, ISRO demonstrated its growing capabilities with multiple burn fuel stage/rocket engine. In few years, ISRO is expected to put big primary payloads into different orbits by using a single rocket launcher. Ajey Lele | December 22, 2015 | IDSA Comments
