Interventionism and Human Security The conflict in Syria is inexorably turning into a quagmire as more entities get dragged into the sludge. From a hands-off policy to one of humanitarian support, the West has progressed to arming rebels, while Russia has shown that it is determined not to let down its ally by continuing arms shipments to the Assad regime. Manmohan Bahadur | January 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Lee Kuan Yew: The Grandmaster’s Insights on China, the United States and the World by Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill with Ali Wyne Without doubt, Lee Kuan Yew has been among the most distinguished statesmen to emerge from the ruins of post-colonial Asia. He orchestrated and led the transformation of Singapore from a poverty-stricken and war-ravaged city into a prosperous and developed city-state in less than four decades by laying robust, hybrid and sustainable economic and political structures. A disciplined, orderly and controlled democracy, Singapore has emerged as a hub for the convergence of western and eastern processes and competencies. Arjun Subramaniam | January 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Politics, Security and Nuclear Abolition: Beyond the Idealist Rhetoric Disarmament and non-proliferation are rightfully viewed as two sides of the same coin: the two imperatives that need to be met if the prospect of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons is to be realised. Although the existence of a link between the two concepts is obvious, the exact nature of this connection is perhaps not as clear. The central question here is whether it is politics or strategic realities that shape states’ nuclear options and by implication, the two-fold road to global zero. Dimitrios Machairas | January 2014 | Strategic Analysis
Through the Gender Lens: A Feminist Analysis of ‘Security’ Nicole Detraz, International Security and Gender (Dimensions of Security), Polity, UK, 2012, 168 pp., $21.39 (trade paperback), ISBN 978-0745651170 Chayanika Saxena | January 2014 | Strategic Analysis
A Year-end Security Review of Southern Asia It has been a year of unstable regional security with the endless conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s half-hearted struggle against the remnants of the al Qaeda, Sri Lanka’s inability to find a lasting solution to its ethnic problems and Nepal’s new found inclination to seek neutrality between India and China. Gurmeet Kanwal | December 31, 2013 | IDSA Comments
India-China Relations: Scenario 2014 The India-China relations in 2013, in spite Depsang incident, had a more positive than negative tone. Premier Li chose India as his first overseas stop and the pronouncement to deepen ties with India as “strategic choice” along with promise to make “greater efforts” to resolve boundary issue. Equally positive voice came from the Indian leadership for rejecting the relevance of “containment” in favour of “cooperation” that could bring more gains instead. P. Stobdan | December 30, 2013 | IDSA Comments
India’s Maoists: Financing the war machinery In a document entitled ‘Our Financial Policy’, the Maoists mention that they have three types of economic needs, viz. the needs of war, political propaganda and the people. To cater to these needs there are three broad categories of resources, viz. (a) membership fee, levy and contributions from the people; (b) confiscation of the wealth and income of the enemy; and (c) ‘revolutionary taxes’ collected in guerrilla zones and base areas. P. V. Ramana | December 27, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Delegation of Powers to the Armed Forces in a Time Warp MoD, according to news reports, has instructed the Army HQ that its permission will need to be taken before changing the structure or role of the units in future. This could easily be interpreted to mean that there are no existing instructions on such vital issues. But such an impression would be wrong. Amit Cowshish | December 26, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Taking Stock of Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s One Year Rule In the last one year, Xi’s has consolidated his position within the Standing Committee of the Party Politbureau, elevated information security as China’s core concern and focused on internal security as a result of slowing of the economy. Taking a cue from Mao, Xi has promoted the spirit of nationalism in China and like Mao he is finding a foreign target for nothing subsumes internal dissidence as does the promotion of xenophobic tendencies. R. S. Kalha | December 20, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Iftikhar Choudharys Judicial Activism and the Pakistani state: Time for a rethink? While Choudhary’s judicial activism did restore a degree of sanity to Pakistan, it came at the expense of other institutions and created an imbalance of power. Pakistan, to become a normal state, at peace with itself and the world at large, may not need institutional tinkering but a wholesale rejigging of its institutional superstructure and substructure. Wajahat Qazi | December 18, 2013 | IDSA Comments
