Publication Filter

Two Decades of India’s Look East Policy: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity by Amar Nath Ram (ed.)

Two Decades of India's Look East Policy edited by Amar Nath Ram is a compilationof scholarly contributions by 12 former ambassadors, an eminent academic-diplomat, a maritime strategy expert and a journalist. As a diplomat who was, as it were, present at the creation, Ram is eminently qualified to comment on how the Look East policy (LEP) has evolved since it was formulated.

India–China Boundary Problem 1846–1947: History and Diplomacy by A.G. Noorani

The Sino-Indian border dispute is one of the longest running border disputes in the world, which has so far eluded a solution. While China has settled its territorial disputes with most of its neighbours, including Russia and Vietnam, the border dispute with India is yet to be resolved, even after 15 rounds of negotiation under the new framework of Special Representative Talks initiated in 2003 during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China, which indeed gave an impetus to the border talks.

Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge by Adam Segal

Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge follows a long line of books that tap into America's preoccupation with retaining its pole position as the repository of cutting edge technology, and the resultant dominance this offers it across the political, economic and military spectrum. These books are a subset within the wider pre-occupation of responding to the rise of the Asian powers, and a shift of the geopolitical centre of gravity from the Euro-Atlantic to the Asian landmass.

Hu Jintao: China’s Silent Ruler by Kerry Brown

Chinese economic and military growth in the last decade has heightened interest in the country's functioning and political system. The world at large is highly intrigued by the way the Chinese political system functions and there is also a curiosity regarding the strengths and weaknesses of this system.

China’s Discursive Nationalism: Contending in Softer Realms by Bhavna Singh

Chinese foreign and domestic policies cannot be understood without understanding the evolving nature of Chinese nationalism. Bhavna Singh's book on Chinese nationalism deals with this issue in a detailed manner. The Communist Party of China (CCP) has relied heavily on the notion of patriotism, which overlaps that of nationalism, for domestic and international legitimacy. All eyes are on the leadership transition in China and its implications for the world. It will be interesting to see how the new leadership deals with the growing nationalistic sentiment in the country.

Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on the Periphery

Christopher Snedden, The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, Hurst & Company, London, 2012, xxi + 435 pp., £50, clothbound, ISBN 97818490041508

The Arab Spring and its Implications for India

The ‘Arab Spring’ is the popular rejection of the political and economic scenario that has prevailed across the Arab world from Morocco to Yemen over the last 100 years. In the post-colonial era following the Second World War, country after country in Asia, Latin America and, recently, in Africa moved towards establishing a democratic political system.

Do the Changes in Myanmar Signify a Real Transition? A Response to the Debate

Myanmar's complexity makes it difficult to find agreement on its multiple facets. What makes it doubly confounding is that the country is passing through a phase of transition. My initial article on this transition has triggered some interesting responses. This shows how reality on the ground is variously interpreted depending on the background of the observer and the special expertise and experience they bring to bear on it. Approaching a subject as interesting as Myanmar from different angles hopefully succeeds in providing a multi-dimensional and more rounded perspective

Myanmar’s Transition: A Comment

Myanmar's reforms have generated much debate among scholars, both inside and outside the country. One of the key questions asked is: do the changes in Myanmar signify a real transition? There are good reasons to doubt the genuineness of the transition because the change was initiated by a military regime that had ruled the country for decades. The military has ensured its role in the transition by guaranteeing seats to the military in parliament and many of the ‘civilian’ leaders in the new government were until recently military officers. I agree with Dr.

Contours of Change in Myanmar—and Future Prospects

Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh astutely raises multiple questions in his article in order to trigger a debate. But his take on today's Myanmar is evident from the first paragraph (‘This time the change that is occurring is substantive, not cosmetic’) and the last paragraph (‘Myanmar is poised for change; incremental change will surely gather momentum once the dithering ends’). I hold a different perspective on the country's internal politics and external relations, which is reflected in the analysis.