Japan’s Nuclear Future In the aftermath of North Korea's second nuclear test and the launch of three short-range missiles on May 25, 2009, followed by the launch of seven ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on July 4, there has been widespread speculation on Japan's principled position on non-proliferation and disarmament and whether it will abandon its nuclear abstinence and acquire nuclear capability. This possibility has been echoed recently by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Reshmi Kazi | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Terror Financing in Bangladesh This article deals with financing of Islamist terror in Bangladesh, which on occasions becomes jihadi in nature, especially when it is directed towards India. The exercise undertaken studies developments in the area of terrorist finance in Bangladesh post-9/11, but does not claim to fully estimate the volume of terror financing in that country. The attempt has been made to throw some light on an area where little research has been done. The article argues that the Government of Bangladesh has shown a half-hearted approach towards checking the finance of terrorism. Anand Kumar | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Islamization versus Talibanization: Is Pakistan Drifting Towards ‘Lebanonization’? The February 2009 Swat deal between the Taliban and the Pakistan Government, the current Pakistani Army offensive against Taliban strongholds in various areas of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and the Talibani response to those operations through terror attacks in various Pakistani cities, sharply underline the clear and present threat to Pakistan. P. K. Upadhyay | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Religious Assertion in Malaysia: Constrained or Conflagrated? For several decades, religion has been a visible and potent force in the domestic politics of Muslim countries. Within Asia, the issue has attracted considerable debate and a good case study of this is Malaysia. Issues of religious conversion, demolition of temples, apostasy, and Islamic state discourse have widened fault lines among different religious communities in Malaysia. Pankaj K Jha | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
A Year after 26/11: Soft Responses of a Reluctant State Why are the two largest democracies – India and the United States – starkly different when it comes to tackling terrorism? The answer to this perplexing question could lie in the two countries' divergent approach to security and management of national security resources. Equally relevant is the variance in their political resoluteness in exercising suitable responses to emergent threats. A. Vinod Kumar | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
North-East India as a Factor in India’s Diplomatic Engagement with Myanmar: Issues and Challenges In recent years India, along with China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been following a policy of diplomatic engagement with Myanmar. India has also clarified its diplomatic stand that such a policy engagement will positively serve its national interests. Pradip Saikia | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Climate Summit at Copenhagen: Negotiating the Intractable Climate change is hugely challenging. But there is an unmistakable straightforwardness to it – reduce emissions to reduce global warming. In many ways, this reflects the sum total of the paradoxes that define our reality and the contradictions and hypocrisy of coping and dealing with it. Climate change raises all the right concerns from effectively all the right quarters. But concerns require actions and that is where the debate starts, the positions get entrenched and more often than not words and gestures become hollow and empty. Uttam Kumar Sinha | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Pakistan’s HEU-based Nuclear Weapons Programme and Nuclear Terrorism: A Reality Check In order to construct an operational nuclear device, terrorists need to obtain the requisite fissile materials - Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) or plutonium. It has been proved that, generally, it is much simpler to devise a crude nuclear bomb with HEU than with plutonium. Hence, terrorists can have 'reasonable confidence' in the performance of weapons-grade HEU bombs. The magnitude of the threat of nuclear terrorism from Pakistan's HEU-based nuclear weapons programme is assuming alarming proportions. However, adequate preventive steps can be taken to minimize the danger. Reshmi Kazi | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Trends in Thinking about Warfare Militaries the world over need to study and understand lessons from the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, and the new knowledge needs to be placed in context. Neglected military history itself provides enduring lessons. This article attempts to capture the trends and debates in the understanding of current warfare and outlines how lessons of war are interpreted with a focus on future trends in war-fighting. The article concludes with some policy suggestions and areas for further inquiry. P. K. Gautam | November 2009 | Strategic Analysis
