China’s eagle eye on Arunachal Referring to India’s recent troop deployment in Arunachal Pradesh and the construction of a new airbase at Tezpur, Assam, Zhang Haizjou writing in China Daily on June 10, 2009 states that “India is attempting to extend its control over a disputed border area…” Similarly, Li Hongmei writing in the People’s Daily has held India responsible for hiking tension over Arunachal Pradesh by harbouring “awe, vexation, envy and jealousy – in the face of its giant neighbour” China. Jagannath P. Panda | July 10, 2009 | IDSA Comments
China’s Xinjiang Problem It all started on 26 June in the toy factory owned by the Hong Kong-listed Lacewood International in China’s Shaoguan city of Guangdong province. An official news agency wrote "Six Xinjiang boys raped two innocent girls at the Xuri Toy Factory." It was found to be a hoax, but the rumour spread quickly through the Internet sparking a deadly clash between the Uighur workers and Han Chinese who fought each other with knives and metal pipes in which two Uighur labourers were reportedly killed and 118 injured. P. Stobdan | July 09, 2009 | IDSA Comments
Indian Naval Strategy in the Twenty First Century Construed as expanding rings of expanding circles, India's maritime environs exhibit varying degrees of complexity and competitiveness. Each successive ring bears its own characteristics, opportunities, challenges and distinctive nuances. As India looks farther offshore, beyond its coastal or near-seas environment, it will encounter actors and forces that will neither bend wholly to its will nor reflexively push back. Contingency and context will thus characterise India's interactions with fellow maritime powers. Rahul Mishra | July 2009 | Journal of Defence Studies
The central debate in India’s civil military relations Critics have it that the last bout of reforms in India’s defence sector in the wake of Kargil has not been taken to its logical conclusion. There are two key areas over which there is considerable debate. One is the continuing absence of a Chief of Defence Staff, and the second is the cosmetic integration between the Ministry of Defence and the Service Headquarters. It is asserted that the latter is the result of bureaucrats protecting their turf in a perverse interpretation of civil control. Ali Ahmed | July 06, 2009 | IDSA Comments
Securing South East Asia: The Politics of Security Sector Reform Mark Beeson, who authored articles on Asia Pacific institutions and regional security along with Alex J. Bellamy who has written books on Kosovo and Security Communities, has written this book which discusses a very important subject of civil military relations in socio-political context. The authors have reservations for the book being classified under civil military relations because it comprehensively discusses the issue under Security Sector Reforms (SSR). Pankaj K Jha | July 2009 | Journal of Defence Studies
Talibisation of Pakistan: Implications for Jammu and Kashmir Taliban represent a present and clear danger to Pakistan. This is because, firstly, they seem to have finally lost faith in Pakistani commitment towards their cause and are not willing to accommodate any more its policy of running with the Talibani hare and hunting with the American hound. P. K. Upadhyay | July 02, 2009 | IDSA Comments
The Why and What of Water Security That there is a freshwater crisis today is an irrefutable fact. That there is also a water policy that is in perpetual crisis is an equally undeniable fact. Continued population growth and the impact of global warming along with over-consumption, inadequate conservation, and wastage are putting enormous pressure on water resources. Water covers most of the planet but only 3 per cent is fresh water, of which a mere 1 per cent is readily accessible for human consumption. What it means is that less than 0.007 per cent of all the water on earth is available to drink. Uttam Kumar Sinha | July 2009 | Strategic Analysis
The Indian Experience of Conflict Resolution in Mizoram The case of Mizoram in India provides informative lessons for conflict resolution. Factors such as addressing the root causes of the conflict, de-escalation in violence, empathizing with the conflicting actor, surrender policy for insurgents, indigenous mediators, absence of peace-spoilers, strengthening of local institutions, formation of a pan-Mizo identity and limited 'use of force' policy all played a role in establishing peace in Mizoram. Namrata Goswami | July 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Central Asian Geopolitics and China’s Security From a geopolitical perspective, Central Asia is one of the most important regions of the world due to its impact over great powers. At the outset, it should be made clear that the Central Asian states are the host of this region, and that great powers cannot dominate the region. The relations of great powers, mentioned in this commentary, are just taken as an analytical frame. Zhao Huasheng | July 2009 | Strategic Analysis
Heuristics for Convoy Movement Problem Convoy movement problem involves routing and scheduling military convoys across a limited route network, adhering to certain strategic constraints. This article suggests using heuristics for solving the dynamic version of the problem where the network changes over time. The performance of heuristics evaluated against lower bounds, when applied to a number of hypothetical data-sets, is found to be encouraging. P. N. Ram Kumar , T. T. Narendran | July 2009 | Strategic Analysis
