US-Iran: The Changing Dynamics and the Likelihood of a Conflict Washington-Tehran relations have come to occupy centrestage in the recent months given the United States’ current preoccupation with the Middle East. The US-Iran association can be traced back to 1953, when the CIA organised a coup to oust the elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq. Since then, the US has never really disengaged itself from the one of the most strategically important Middle East nations. This paper attempts to identify current US concerns regarding Iran and explores the possibility of a US offensive against Iran similar to that in Iraq. Parama Sinha Palit | January 2004 | Strategic Analysis
Post-1998 Track II Diplomacy Between India and the USA: An Indian Perspective The paper discusses Track II Diplomacy between India and the United States with a special focus on the post-1998 period. Its scope is limited to Track II deliberations that have relevance to foreign policy issues. An effort has been made to assess the efficacy of Track II exercises on the basis of certain parameters developed for this study. The findings of the study are based on the responses received from some experts in this field in India during direct interviews with them. Thus, the paper provides an Indian perspective. Bhabani Mishra | January 2004 | Strategic Analysis
US Policies in the Post-Cold War Era: An Indian Perspective The 9/11 attacks on the US have forced the Americans to believe that the US secret service agencies are helpless against the attacks of the committed suicide squads. These attacks and the subsequent happenings in Afghanistan and Iraq have not only removed the illusion of post-Cold War peace, but also heightened uncertainty and insecurity in the world. ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ has given a clear message to the countries of the world that the US can go to any extent to protect its national interests even if the mandate of the world community is against such actions. Annpurna Nautiyal | January 2004 | Strategic Analysis
Sunni-Shia Relations in Pakistan: The Widening Divide The sectarian divide between the Sunnis and Shias in Pakistan has widened since the 1980s. The rising tide of sectarian violence during Musharraf’s rule (October 1999-till date), in spite of bans and restrictions imposed on sectarian outfits and elements by the administration, suggests that the two sects have drifted further apart. Ashok K. Behuria | January 2004 | Strategic Analysis
3rd India-Central Asia Regional Conference The 3rd India-Central Asia Regional Conference was jointly organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi and the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) at Tashkent during November 6-8, 2003. Fifty participants from about 20 countries participated in the Conference. Representatives from organisations like the World Bank (WB), European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also participated. Uzbek Foreign Minister Mr. Ramakant Dwivedi | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Kaliningrad: Russian Enclave Within the European Union Nivedita Das Kundu | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Prem Shankar Jha, The End of Saddam Hussein, History Through the Eyes of the Victims Events in Iraq in the last decade, especially the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies (the so-called Coalition of the Willing) in 2003, have shaken the basis of the international system which has governed interstate relations since the end of the Second World War in 1945. In the Middle East, the lack of faith in the multilateral institutions set up after that War, has intensified. S. K. Bhutani | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
India’s Internal Security Challenges Shri N N Vohra, Shri K Santhanam, Director IDSA, Ladies and Gentlemen: Ved Marwah | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
US and the Asia-Pacific: Future of the Alliance System and Regional Security The article critically looks at relevance of the US alliance system in the Asia-Pacific in the context of the changing nature of threats and challenges that the U.S. is confronted with in the light of American military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. The paper argues that the American policy in Asia, which so far has been premised on bilateral alliances and forward deployment, is likely to undergo fundamental changes because the principal partners, South Korea and Japan, may not be very useful either in counter-terrorism efforts or low-intensity wars. G. V. C. Naidu | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Bodo Insurgency in Assam: New Accord and New Problems Assam, one of the seven states of the northeastern region of India, has long remained one of the most volatile and sensitive regions in the country because of the problems of insurgency, ethnic conflict, pressure of migration, underdevelopment etc. Bodos, the largest plains tribe of Assam started an armed struggle for a separate state in the mid-1980s. This armed struggle led to ethnic cleansing of the non-Bodos along the north bank of the Brahmaputra. Manoj Kumar Nath | October 2003 | Strategic Analysis
