A Reviving Continent? As a trial ground for humankind’s quest for betterment, India can be reckoned the next frontier. The scale and complexity of India’s problems are every policy maker’s nightmare. For a social scientist, India is a laboratory to test new ideas. As India’s colonial encounter fades from public memory, social science research in India has moved on to address the concerns of ordinary citizens. The euphoria of 1947 has ebbed, and the reticence and anxiety of the 1970s is gone. With the promised economic surge slowing down, millions of Indians continue to be trapped in neediness. Jitendra Nath Misra | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Restrained and Strategically Effective—The 2011 Aerial Campaign over Libya: An Indian Perspective The winter of 2011 was a dramatic period for air power in Mediterranean Europe and India. Operation Unified Protector (OUP), the successful North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) offensive aerial campaign that paved the way for a regime change in Libya, involved two platforms that had been shortlisted for the largest fighter aircraft deal of recent times. Arjun Subramaniam | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Politics and Perceptions of Indian Aid to Nepal India has significantly invested in Nepal’s development through economic assistance since 1952. Despite deploying aid to win the hearts and minds of the people of Nepal, India has not entirely succeeded in doing so. Paradoxically, an analysis of Indian aid and gaps in the planning, processes, modalities and perceptions of India’s motivation shows that it has possibly contributed to the fuelling of anti-India sentiments among the Nepalese population. Monalisa Adhikari | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
European Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership The diplomatic relations between European Union and Brazil were established during the 1960. Three aspects largely determine EU-Brazil relations: bilateral aspect, the EU-Mercosur aspect and increasingly after the financial crises the aspect of global economic governance. Nachiket Khadkiwala | May 01, 2014 | Backgrounder
Issues in the Management of the India–Pakistan International Border A discordant political relationship, three and a half wars and Pakistan’s material support for secessionist militants in the border states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir compelled India to harden its international border with Pakistan. An inward-looking economy and the absence of an imperative for regional economic integration also resulted in restricted movement of people and goods across the border. However, in the past decade or so, an emergent Indian economy coupled with both countries’ desire to engage themselves constructively have paved the way for softening the border. Pushpita Das | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Sun Zi and Kautilya: Towards a Comparative Analysis It may be stated at the outset that this essay is essentially an attempt to identify some critical commonalities in the approaches of Sun Zi and Kautilya, the two profound strategists of the ancient Orient, one belonging to China and the other to India, and who exercised considerable influence for centuries that followed in their respective countries. K. N. Ramachandran | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Emerging Powers and Global Financial Governance The traditional mode of governance of national and global monetary and financial markets was obviously too weak and piecemeal to hinder the recurrent outbreak of regional and worldwide crises. The latest and gravest in this series triggered a massive institutional and operational overhaul, achieved both by the creation of new institutions and also by old and new ones being made stronger and more inclusive, foremost by introducing major emerging countries into their steering and oversight bodies. Joachim Betz | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
No One’s World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn by Charles A. Kupchan Europe and the US have together dominated the world for over 200 years and have shaped the nature of the modern international order through their power and ideas. But they are losing their material primacy and ideological dominance with the rise of new powers, or the ‘rest’, such as China, India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey in the 21st century. The shift of global power from the West to the rest will transform International Relations (IR) and the emerging world order. Saroj Bishoyi | May 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Revisiting India’s Nuclear Doctrine: Is it Necessary? “Credible minimum deterrence” is the cornerstone of India’s nuclear doctrine. It, used in conjunction with the concepts of “No First Use” (NFU) and “Non Use” against non nuclear weapon states, clearly indicates that India envisages its nuclear weapons as only a deterrent and not as a means to threaten others. Satish Chandra | April 30, 2014 | Issue Brief
Naval symposium in China: Decoding the outcome The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) is a small but positive sign towards better communication channels between navies to reduce tension in the seas. But for CUES to become a reality many issues need to be resolved including the time frame for implementation. Sarabjeet Singh Parmar | April 29, 2014 | IDSA Comments