Strategic Analysis

Right Turn in Indian Polity: Modi on BJP’s Chariot by Yogesh Atal and Sunil K. Choudhary

Actors, events and processes that determine the characteristics of the political scene in contemporary India may rightly be understood via a number of tropes—all equally useful and deficient at the same time. This is especially true in case of the ongoing churning in Indian democracy. If for the decade of the 1990s the tropes were Mandal, Market and Mandir, the tropes to understand contemporary politics in India have acquired the shape of ‘Governance’ and ‘Development’.

Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years by A. S. Dulat and Aditya Sinha

Until recently, most top officials in India who had dealt with very sensitive issues in government refrained from writing about them. The adage they followed was that what everyone wanted to know could not be written, and what could be written was something that no one was interested in. Not surprisingly, even when former civil servants have written anything, it has generally been a self-serving swansong of their accomplishments, which other than them no one really considers accomplishments.

Dynamics of ‘Civil-Military’ Relations in India

The burgeoning scholarship on the army’s role in nation building, or the lack of it, is unsurprising. In the modern political order, a nation without its own army is hardly imaginable. A crucial relationship exists between the two, which is also a reason for the uneasiness about the army’s pro-active involvement in the nation-making process. Political sociologists have been uncovering striking causal relationships that demonstrate the crucial role of the army and its internal ‘organisation’, ‘control’ and ‘function’ for the subsisting units of the modern world system: nation-states.

The Promise of China’s Cooperative Behaviour towards India

Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World: Revisiting Kautilya and his Arthashastra in the Third Millennium

Shounak Set |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Recasting Sino-Indian Relations: Towards a Closer Development Partnership

Sino-Indian relations were governed by concerns about an unsound bilateral bonhomie, internal as well as external strategic and political considerations, and in addition, national interests and priorities not necessarily oriented towards pacifying the bilateral relations.

Keshab Chandra Ratha , Sushanta Kumar Mahapatra |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Pakistan’s Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Deconstructing India’s Doctrinal Response

The military and scientific leadership of Pakistan has given clear signals that tactical nuclear weapons have a vital role in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons policy. Developed to lower Pakistan’s nuclear threshold, these weapons may further deter India from launching a conventional strike to punish Pakistan for its sub-conventional war against India. This has led to a debate on the possible doctrinal responses that India could adopt to counter Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons.

Arka Biswas |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Reconsidering the Paracel Islands Dispute: An International Law Perspective

The Paracel Islands dispute has recently resurfaced as a source of conflict between Vietnam and China, who both claim sovereignty over the islands from ‘time immemorial’. This article re-examines their respective claims from an international law perspective. It also focuses on delineating the respective claims with emphasis on sovereignty, territory and self-determination. Based on available sources, this article suggests that Vietnam appears to have a more credible sovereignty claim over the Paracel Islands vis-à-vis China.

Dams as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Geopolitical Implications for Pakistan

Pakistani planners are increasingly prone to recognize the many links between water, food, and energy security. The construction of new large dams is seen by many as a concrete measure to achieve resource security for Pakistani for a future marked by climactic variability and unpredictability. This article explores the geopolitical and political geographic implications of Pakistan’s strategic vision of building dams as a way to prepare for climate change.

Majed Akhter |
November 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Where Hawks Dwell on Water and Bankers Build Power Poles: Transboundary Waters, Environmental Security and the Frontiers of Neo-liberalism

Hydropower development clearly has a significant role to play in the closer integration of different parts of the Himalayas and in facilitating downstream benefits throughout South Asia. However, the neo-liberal approach to infrastructure-led growth frequently overlooks the significant social, economic and political issues associated with this model of development in the region. Furthermore, the ongoing securitisation of water constrains the terms of debate under the guise of a unified national interest and enables large-scale dams to be constructed without due process.