Defence Manufacturing: In Search of a Composite Policy Framework It is time the MoD considered creating structures and organizations that are not an intrinsic part of the ministerial set up to implement the production and procurement policies once these are formulated by the ministry. Amit Cowshish | May 11, 2015 | IDSA Comments
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor and India India has to take a call on whether it would like to be a party to the CPEC, sit on the fence, or convey its concerns more emphatically in a bid to discourage China. Priyanka Singh | May 07, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Implications of the Taliban’s 2015 Spring Offensive Shifting the centre of gravity of fighting from their traditional strongholds in the South to the northern parts of Afghanistan in this operation is indicative of the Taliban’s shift in focus to other regions that are also in the al Qaeda’s radar. V. Mahalingam | May 06, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Crisis in Yemen: Imperatives for Region and Beyond This Issue Brief examines the various dimensions of the conflict in Yemen and analyses the conflict’s impact on the region and beyond. Meena Singh Roy , M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi , Zaki Zaidi | May 05, 2015 | Issue Brief
Bangladesh: Mayoral Elections unable to resolve Political Deadlock Confrontational politics is not new in Bangladesh. But it seems to have intensified in the last few months, especially after the unofficial main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), decided to launch protests on the first anniversary of the 2014 parliamentary elections in order to force the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government to step down. The BNP considers the January 5, 2014 parliamentary elections as illegal and hence the government in power as illegitimate. Anand Kumar | May 01, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Jonathan Matusitz, Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Maryland, 2014 Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior explores an important but under-represented aspect of terrorism: the meanings of both physical and non-physical symbols in terrorism, and how culture, belief systems and internal and external forces come to create such symbolic meanings and processes. Jonathan Matusitz, the author of the book, manages to ‘unpack’ this clearly through 16 chapters that each take a different angle in explaining the origins and reasons of various forms of terrorism (both past and current). Updesh Kumar | May 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Diverging Australian and Indian Views on the Indo-Pacific Australia has a vital interest in preventing the Indian Ocean Region from becoming an arena of great power rivalry, including between India and China. The 2013 Defence White Paper clearly delineates the Indo-Pacific as an area of supreme importance to Australia. Developing a close strategic partnership with India is an important part of this strategy. Melissa H. Conley Tyler , Aakriti Bhutoria | May 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Vanda Felbab-Brown, Aspiration and Ambivalence: Strategies and Realities of Counterinsurgency and State Building in Afghanistan, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC After 13 years of international engagement, political and security scenarios appear to be uncertain in Afghanistan. The unity government formed through a power-sharing agreement between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah faces multiple external and internal challenges. Analysts remain sceptical about the future of the government itself. Dinoj K. Upadhyay | May 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Impossible Devolution? The Failure of Power-Sharing Attempts in Sri Lanka The concept of a ‘primordial homeland’ has been at the centre of Sri Lanka’s armed struggle, in which both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalisms have used claims of ancient and ethnically determined territories to justify their right to self-determination, territorial sovereignty and armed struggle. Thiruni Kelegama | May 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Rajat Kathuria and Sanjana Joshi (eds.), Forty Years of India–Korea Relations and Looking Ahead, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2014 The year 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between India and South Korea. Even though during the Cold War, India–South Korea relations had to overcome several hiccups, they started flourishing following the end of the Cold War. In fact, in the last two decades the relationship has witnessed tremendous growth in a wide range of areas, including economic, political, socio-cultural and security. Unfortunately, not much work has been undertaken to deal with India–South Korea relations in detail. Pranamita Baruah | May 2015 | Strategic Analysis
