India and China: The Battle between Hard Power and Soft Power by Prem Shankar Jha Penguin Viking, New York, 2010, 398 pp., Rs. 599, ISBN R N Das | January 2011 | Strategic Analysis
India’s Options in Afghanistan The prognoses that it will be long before Afghanistan will be at peace with itself; that the Taliban have raised the cost of the Afghan war for the West; that the growing differences between the West and Kabul have aggravated the prevailing uncertainty over the future of the war; and that the US-led Afghan mission appears unwinnable are all unexceptionable. Satish Chandra | January 2011 | Strategic Analysis
Socio-Economic Underpinning of Jihadism in Pakistan The rise of the jihadist movement in Pakistan is driven primarily by ideological and religious factors. Decades of indoctrination of a virulent version of radical political Islam has motivated thousands of people—young and old—to take the path of violent jihad to capture political power, and through it, transform the society, economy and culture to bring about what they consider to be a pristine Islamic order. Sushant Sareen | January 2011 | Strategic Analysis
Soft Power: China’s Emerging Strategy in International Politics by Mingjiang Li (ed.) Lexington Books, Plymouth, 2009, 275 pp., US$80, ISBN 978-0-7391-3377-4 Rukmani Gupta | January 2011 | Strategic Analysis
India in the Afghan Maze: Search for Options The Afghan war has a long way to go. The situation has come to a point where with every passing month one wonders where the war is headed. There can be no doubt that it will be long before Afghanistan will be at peace with itself. At this moment, there does not seem to be any solution to the Afghan crisis. The Taliban and their allies, both Afghan and foreign, have notably succeeded in transforming the war to their advantage. Vishal Chandra | January 2011 | Strategic Analysis
Bhutan 2010: Foreign Policy Developments Security and development cooperation have become the twin pillars of the India-Bhutan relationship. Medha Bisht | December 30, 2010 | IDSA Comments
India’s Season of Summits The world needs India as a balancer – in trade, as a market, as an alternative model, and as a world power. Sujit Dutta | December 30, 2010 | IDSA Comments
India-China Relations: It’s the economy, and no one’s stupid This Brief uses irony to communicate five propositions, that can be found in several discourses on Sino-Indian ties. It evaluates these propositions in the light of the tangible and intangible gains from Premier Wen Jiabao’s second official visit to India. Joe Thomas Karackattu | December 28, 2010 | Issue Brief
Examining the Maoist Resurgence in Andhra The Maoists are trying to cash in on major issues like Telangana to expand their mass base in Andhra from where hail their top leadership. Uddipan Mukherjee | December 28, 2010 | IDSA Comments
ISRO cannot afford failures ISRO needs to conduct a thorough enquiry particularly because failure in a time-tested and launch proven “stage one technology” is undesirable. Ajey Lele | December 28, 2010 | IDSA Comments
