SAARC Energy Agreement: A step in the right direction Signing of the SAARC agreement is merely the first step in the process of regional energy cooperation. To make this initiative work, governments in the region need to synchronise their efforts on a range of technical, institutional and political issues. Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni | January 05, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga by Nitin A. Gokhale The history of the 20th century has for a long time looked at the inhospitable Russian Tundra in winter as the most hostile battleground that armies could experience. Hitler’s defeat at Stalingrad in the bleak winter of 1942 and the decimation of his Panzer divisions by hardy and acclimatised Russian forces remains one of the key turning points of World War II. Arjun Subramaniam | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Experiences from the International Rhine Water Management Germany, located in Central Europe, has access to different national and international river basins and lakes, including the Rhine, Elbe, Danube and Lake Constance. Precipitation in Germany differs between comfortable amounts in the Alpine region (1500–2000 mm/a) to moderate amounts in the central and northern regions (600–800 mm/a). In brief, the geological conditions are in favour of successful groundwater storage. Martin G. Grambow | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Overcoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Dangers by Mark Fitzpatrick Mark Fitzpatrick’s book Overcoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Dangers makes a courageous attempt in advocating recognition of Pakistan as a ‘normal nuclear state’ (p. 12). The author asserts that the international community must now refrain from making Pakistan pay for its 2004 AQ Khan debacle and recognise that ‘the time has come to offer Pakistan a nuclear cooperation deal akin to India’ (p. 162). Reshmi Kazi | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
The Articulated Strategy to Fight the Islamic State: Is It Self-Defeating? President Barack Obama has detailed his strategy to degrade, defeat and ultimately destroy the Islamic State (IS) (the IS is also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]) currently considered the most threatening of the various terrorist groups operating primarily in the Middle East. Fundamental to the success of the strategy is military action aimed at degrading the combat capabilities of the fighting elements of the IS. Sanu Kainikara | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Maoist Insurgency and India’s Internal Security Architecture by E.N. Rammohan, Brigadier Amrit Pal Singh and Gp. Capt. A.K. Agarwal The Maoist insurgency and the internal security response, which in part flows from India’s security architecture, have become increasingly relevant in the recent past. The Maoist threat has repeatedly been referred to as the gravest internal challenge to India’s security. The impact of this threat, along with terrorism in the hinterland, has exposed the inadequacies of the country’s internal security capacities. Therefore, a book dealing with the two is a timely addition to the literature, in the Indian context. Vivek Chadha | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Depoliticising Illegal Immigration from Bangladesh to India With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition coming to power in India in May 2014, the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh has come to the forefront once again. However, the fear is whether the debate over the issue will shed more light, leading to the resolution of the problem, or whether it will simply degenerate into political rivalry and polarisation. Illegal immigration figured prominently in the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections and was often raised by one of the leading political parties, the BJP. Anand Kumar | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Forged in Crisis: India and the United States since 1947 by Rudra Chaudhuri ‘My, I always thought he was the peaceable sort’, remarked Jacqueline Kennedy, sitting next to her husband in the White House in the late evening of October 25, 1962. She had just read a letter written to John F. Kennedy from Jawaharlal Nehru, the first of three crucial letters seeking US military assistance during the Indo-China war in 1962. Aniruddh Mohan | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
India’s ‘Strategic Autonomy’ and the Club Model of Global Governance: Why the Indian BRICS Engagement Warrants a Less Ambiguous Foreign Policy Doctrine India’s global policy strategy is on the verge of major changes. Non-alignment as a cornerstone of foreign policy has become outdated given the power shifts in a multipolar world, especially through the emergence of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which has put India in the position of being perceived as a potential new global player. Herbert Wulf , Tobias Debiel | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Mubarak’s Fall in Egypt: How and Why did it Happen? After nearly 30 years in power, the Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt, considered by many to be the strongest in the Arab world, collapsed suddenly in February 2011 after a mere 18 days of street protests. In this article, we try to explain the puzzling collapse of the Mubarak regime using regime transition theory. We argue that the Mubarak regime’s collapse came about as a result of four key developments, none of which were sufficient to cause the regime’s collapse, but when coalesced together exposed the regime’s lack of coercive and persuasive powers, thereby hastening its demise. Kirsten Henderson , Rajat Ganguly | January 2015 | Strategic Analysis
