Mahinda Rajapaksa’s India Policy: Engage and Countervail Mahinda Rajapaksa has emerged as perhaps the only Sri Lankan leader who has managed to secure some strategic autonomy in conducting his country's foreign policy vis-à-vis India. He engaged India effectively during the military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and simultaneously countervailed India by improving his country's relationship with India's traditional adversaries such as China and Pakistan. In the post-LTTE scenario, he has maintained a defiant posture vis-à-vis India over the latter's persuasion to evolve a political solution to the ethnic issue. Ashok K. Behuria , Gulbin Sultana | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
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. Gunjan Singh | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
The ‘Ethnic Question’ in India–Sri Lanka Relations in the Post-LTTE Phase The ‘ethnic question’ in Sri Lanka, even after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), evokes a sense of suspense, uncertainty and even a possible conflict of interest in the otherwise robust and multifaceted relationship between India and Sri Lanka. The article adopts a multi-agent model derived from the positional analysis and identifies three principal agents in Indo-Sri Lanka relations—the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), the Government of India (GoI) and Tamil Nadu. Amali Wedagedara | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
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. Arvind Gupta | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
Human Security and the Arab Spring The Arab Spring was ignited by an undeniable human security goal of achieving freedom from want, freedom from fear and freedom to live in dignity. This article analyses how human security concerns have figured in the Arab Spring and shaped its course. Mohammed Nuruzzaman | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
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 Priyanka Singh | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
Kazakhstan: Continuous Improvement or Stalemate in its Relations with China? Over the last two decades Kazakhstan has implemented foreign policies aimed at improving relations with many new geopolitical actors, as well as longstanding common partners such as Russia, on which it was formerly heavily dependent. By utilising its huge hydrocarbon production potential, Kazakhstan has managed to surpass all other Central Asian states in political and economic importance. Kazakhstan has now turned its eyes to China, seeing it as an important and powerful partner in the economic, political and security spheres. Richard Rousseau | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
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. Talmiz Ahmad | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
The Arctic: An Antithesis The Arctic ice is melting faster than predicted. In August 2012, calculations based on the satellite imagery indicated that the summer sea ice loss was 50 per cent higher than earlier estimates. 1 Scientific evidence now suggests that the Arctic, by the middle of the century, will be ice free in the summer. Scientists call it the ‘Arctic amplification’—the reduction in the ice cover not only reduces the reflection of the sunlight but also increases the absorption of heat as the darker water is exposed. Uttam Kumar Sinha | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
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 Udai Bhanu Singh | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
