The Urumqi Crisis: Effect of China’s Ethno-national Politics Experts are still searching for a settled answer to the causes and aftermath of the violent unrest between the Han and Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province that erupted on July 5, 2009. The long-simmering resentment of the native Uyghurs against the Han-dominated groups coupled with the deepening economic crisis is believed to have been the major reason for the ethnic riots. The questions being asked now are: Was it a crisis of ethnicity or economy? Why did the crisis manifest itself this way? And was the crisis a prelude to China's terrorism problem? Jagannath P. Panda March 2010 Strategic Analysis
The Political Factor in Nuclear Retaliation That a nuclear taboo exists indicates the divide between conventional and nuclear war. It is no wonder then that India – though a nuclear weapons power – deems nuclear weapons not for military use but for deterrence purposes. These are, therefore, taken as political weapons. Seeking to deter use of nuclear weapons against India or its forces anywhere, India's nuclear doctrine promises ‘massive’ punitive retaliatory strike in case of nuclear use by its enemy. This is evidence that the Indian leadership is cognizant of the special status of nuclear weapons. Ali Ahmed March 2010 Strategic Analysis
EU-India Counter-Terrorism Cooperation: Post-Lisbon Prospects Since both India and EU face the same threat of religious radicalism at home and from across the border, focused cooperation on this issue must be given serious thought. Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay February 26, 2010 IDSA Comments
The military intelligence function in future war To prevent intelligence failures there is a need to incorporate the additional and fresh areas of intelligence interest brought on by the asymmetric and nuclear dimensions of future conflict. Ali Ahmed February 26, 2010 IDSA Comments
The Dragon’s Shield: Intricacies of China’s BMD Capability China undertook a BMD test on January 11, 2010, which it claimed was an exoatmospheric interception. Though Beijing was known to be developing missile defence systems for long, there were very few indicators on how far it has gone in terms of technological prowess. A. Vinod Kumar February 25, 2010 Issue Brief
Hurdles Ahead for Japan as the APEC Chair With APEC accounting for half the world’s global economic output and 44 per cent of its trade value, Japan’s role in creating a region wide free-trade zone and developing a strategy for economic growth of the Asia Pacific is expected to be decisive for the world economy. Pranamita Baruah February 25, 2010 IDSA Comments
Afghan Factor behind moves to revive talks between India and Pakistan The resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue is closely linked with US moves in Afghanistan in the context of Obama’s publicly declared intent to begin the process of US military withdrawal from Afghanistan from 2011. P. K. Upadhyay February 25, 2010 IDSA Comments
Dutch withdrawal from Afghanistan may have cascading effects The Dutch withdrawal from Afghanistan may have cascading effects, as smaller European countries notwithstanding their importance in contribution or numerical strength, may also announce their exit citing their own national caveats in the months to come. Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay February 23, 2010 IDSA Comments
The Case for Mercenaries in Africa Despite the concerns surrounding the use of mercenaries, they remain an indispensable force on the African continent, so much so that they have been welcomed by governments, and grudgingly even been accepted by NGOs, international organizations and civilians. Mayank Bubna February 16, 2010 Issue Brief
The Imperative of Modernising Military Communications Systems Modernisation has been grossly inadequate in the field of command, control and communications systems that link the ‘shooters’ and ‘sensors’ together to achieve synergy through network centricity and effects-based operations. Gurmeet Kanwal February 16, 2010 IDSA Comments
