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Indian Nuclear Deterrence: Its Evolution, Development and Implications for South Asian Security by Zafar Iqbal Cheema Oxford University Press, Karachi, 2010, pp. 609, Rs 995. ISBN 9780195979039

Russia’s Growing Afghan Re-Engagement

The historical baggage weighing on the Russo-Afghan relationship is apparently in the process of being jettisoned. The two countries have been cautiously reaching out and engaging each other for quite some time now. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's state visit to Moscow on 20–21 January 2011 – the first by an Afghan head of state in more than two decades – could be perceived as a major step forward.

Whither Asia? International Relations in Asia by David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda (eds), Pentagon Press, London, 2010, pp. 383. ISBN 9780742556959.

Protest Movements in West Asia: Some Impressions

The pro-democracy uprisings in West Asia began with Tunisia, where the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country in a dramatic fashion and found refuge in Jeddah, his new home in exile in Saudi Arabia. The Tunisian revolt had a dramatic impact on Egypt, where a non-violent uprising, brewing for some years, sought the removal of the regime of Hosni Mubarak, president for 28 years. While the movement for change in Egypt was still underway, a pro-democracy revolt erupted in Bahrain, which became the first country in the Gulf whose people sought a fundamental political transformation.

IDSA in Retrospect

The former defence minister Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan led a delegation to the United States in May 1964 to discuss American support for the Indian Defence Five-Year Plan. The delegation included among others, the then defence secretary Shri P.V.R. Rao. Both Shri Chavan and Shri Rao were very impressed by the quantitative and analytical approach adopted by the US Defense Department and on their return, initiated discussions in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to explore the possibility of setting up a ‘think tank’ on the lines of the RAND Corporation.

Strategic Importance of Turkmenistan for India

This article examines the strategic importance of Turkmenistan for India in respect of: energy resources; transit potential; and proximity to Afghanistan and Iran. It argues that India's economic potential, its liberal-democratic values, its pluralistic structure, secular fabric, military strength, strong financial, scientific and technological capabilities make it the most desirable partner for all the five Central Asian republics.

‘Cheonan’ Epilogue: Prelude to the Sino-US Incompatibility on the South China Sea Dispute

The 'Cheonan' incident has prodded and expedited the strategic comeback of the US in East Asia. The US offer to mediate the territorial disputes over islands and seabed minerals in the South China Sea at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in July 2010 has provoked harsh criticism from the Chinese. This US diplomatic move appears to be a premeditated one to substantially diminish the influence of China in the region, to re-secure its own strategic forward military presence and to signal that it is not yet time for China to acquire absolute control over this critical waterway.

K. Subrahmanyam and the IDSA

K. Subrahmanyam, who passed away on 2 February 2011, has been hailed as one of India's leading strategic thinkers. Having joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1950, his career graph turned out to be unique. He was one of those rare bureaucrats who came to be recognised more as a strategist than as a typical government official.

Micro-Geopolitics of Central Asia: A Uzbekistan Perspective

Everything is geopolitical in Central Asia where the newly independent state (NIS) Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are located. In other words, the major international political events in the region and most fateful political turns in regional developments bear, or are saturated with, geopolitical essence.

Some Thoughts about K. Subrahmanyam

I vividly remember my first encounter with K. Subrahmanyam in 1974 in Washington shortly after India had exploded its underground nuclear device. I was then country director for India in the state department and we had a lively and at times contentious debate over the wisdom of the test. As you would expect, Subbu stoutly defended India's action while scathingly criticising US policy. ‘Who do you Americans think you are, telling us what to do and trying to make us second class nuclear citizens’, I recall him saying.