India’s Defence Preparedness to Face Chinese Challenges It will not be an exaggeration to say that China poses the major challenge to India’s foreign policy and defence policy – which does not necessarily mean that a potential threat from China is imminent. Far from this, the Sino-Indian border of 3488 kms is by and large peaceful and tranquil, excepting occasional reports of border incursions. There are institutional mechanisms in place to meet any untoward incident on the border. Nevertheless, the security of the country, its territorial integrity and sovereignty warrant military preparedness to cope with any kind of eventualities. R N Das | July 2011 | Journal of Defence Studies
The Need for Declassification of War Histories and other Documents Civil society in general and the strategic community in particular must demand the release of documents pertaining to India’s security. Satish Nambiar | July 06, 2011 | IDSA Comments
Libya: Evaluating NATO’s Strategic Concept An expanded role beyond its borders, including R2P, needs to be included in NATO’s concept to ensure its future relevance. Allyd Paynter | July 06, 2011 | IDSA Comments
Australia Likely to Review Ban on Uranium Sales to India A continuation of Australia’s ban on the sale of uranium to India is likely to hinder the goal of building a strategic partnership and exploring complementarities in the defence and maritime domain. Rajaram Panda | July 06, 2011 | IDSA Comments
India, ENR and NSG Unless the NSG is willing to modify its guidelines to allow ENR transfers to India, India should not seek admission to NSG membeship even if offered. G. Balachandran | July 05, 2011 | Issue Brief
The Domestic Determinants of Iranian Foreign Policy: Challenges to Consensus The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is widely misunderstood. On the one hand many experts regard the Iranian foreign policy as being essentially ideology driven while on the other hand a significant body of opinion believes that ideology is a convenient smokescreen for Iran's pursuit of its national interests. This paper examines the role of ideological, political and institutional actors in the context of the Islamic Republic's quest for consensus and cohesion. Mahan Abedin | July 2011 | Strategic Analysis
K. Subrahmanyam and Indian Strategic Thought In the end an intellectual's life is judged not only by those who mourn his passing, but also by those who challenged his ideas. K. Subrahmanyam, the undisputed doyen of India's strategic community, had his share of both, and his death at the age of 82 on 2 February 2011 leaves behind an immeasurable void. In his professional career, K. Subrahmanyam faced much criticism for his views, at various times, from within the military and among civil servants, the academic community and foreign observers. Anit Mukherjee | July 2011 | Strategic Analysis
Mapping Chinese Oil and Gas Pipelines and Sea Routes China is pursuing an energy policy to alleviate its import dependence, diversify the sources and routes of imported oil and prepare for supply disruption. China's import of hydrocarbons is growing rapidly. Besides sea transport from West Asia and other oil rich countries of both crude and liquefied natural gas, China has also identified diverse import routes for oil and gas by overland pipelines. Some projects are now complete and many are under construction or in the planning stage. P. K. Gautam | July 2011 | Strategic Analysis
On Subrahmanyam The best way to remember and commemorate K. Subrahmanyam is to do it in a way he would have approved – by examining his own career and ideas, and their impact on the larger questions of Indian security and defence policy, and India's relations with the rest of the world. Above all, we need to ask why he was so important. To do this would require much more than a brief note. It would require a deep and broad discussion, which will hopefully include a biography by someone who takes his life and work seriously but does not engage in uncritical adulation. Stephen P. Cohen | July 2011 | Strategic Analysis
‘Old’ Islamists and ‘New’ Radicals: Understanding the Politics of Religious Radicalisation in Pakistan and its Implications The new radicals in Pakistan have challenged the old Islamists as represented by the religious political parties on the nature of state and the means to capture state power. These new radicals reject the ‘bottom up’ approach followed by the traditional Islamic political parties and prefer a ‘top down’ approach. Their ideological inspiration and reference point is Afghanistan under Taliban. Smruti S. Pattanaik | July 2011 | Strategic Analysis
