Strategic Analysis

Boko Haram: The Multifaceted Story of Terror and Cultism

Nigeria is currently going through a very delicate phase. The kidnapping of more than 275 Chibok schoolgirls by the terrorist organisation Boko Haram shocked not only Nigeria but the international community at large. This act by Boko Haram was widely criticised and led to worldwide condemnation and an international rescue effort. More seriously, the group leader Shekhau threatened to sell the girls into slavery and used Islamic teachings as justification.

Boko Haram: Insurgency and the War against Terrorism in the Lake Chad Region

The Boko Haram insurgency has emerged as one of the greatest threats to human security in Africa, and the Lake Chad region in particular. This is a region with a total area of 427,500 km2, which covers/ Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The movement known as Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) originated in Nigeria in 2002. The official name of the movement is Jama’atu Ahlis Suna Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad).

Bringing Fear to the Perpetrators: Humanitarian Cyber Operations as Evidence Gathering and Deterrence

Humanitarian cyber operations would allow democratic states to utilise cyber operations as a humanitarian intervention to capture information and create a foundation for decision making for collective international action supported by humanitarian international law. This follows the legal doctrine of responsibility to protect, which relies first on the nation state itself but when the state fails to protect its citizens, then the international community can act, ignoring the repressive or failed state’s national sovereignty.

Interpreting China’s Third Plenum

Xi Jinping’s new reformist approach of 2013 is a close reflection of Deng Xiaoping’s prescription of 1978. The Chinese political leadership is tightening its political grip and loosening economic control. China has a tradition of leadership being an economic rightist and a political leftist at the same time. The thesis of Xi Jinping is based upon the conception that one should not use post-reform history to negate the pre-reform years. It also says that one should not ‘exaggerate’ Mao Zedong’s mistakes but should acknowledge his contributions.

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

Challenges to the Revision of the Nepal–India 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty

The contemporary strategic and political environment has gone through tremendous changes in comparison to the context in which the 1950 treaty was signed. The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s August 2014 visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years, has rekindled the hope of improving Nepal–India relations, including revision of the 1950 treaty. Against this backdrop, this article argues that without understanding India’s strategic, security-related and political concerns, revision of the 1950 treaty is highly unlikely.

Northeastern India and its neighbours: negotiating security and development by Rakhee Bhattacharya

The insurgency movement in Northeast India, demanding various forms of autonomy including independence, is a constant concern for the maintenance of the country’s unity. It is further complicated due to the region’s strategic location, being almost entirely surrounded by several countries, and hence any development in these countries will certainly have implications for Northeast India.

Nuclear Security in Asia: Problems and Challenges

The importance of nuclear security in Asia needs to be focused upon in view of the emerging challenges of nuclear proliferation, growing nuclear arsenals, expanding civilian nuclear energy programmes, weak export controls, zones of domestic instability and terrorism in several regions within the continent. This article focuses on the factors that pose potential risks to nuclear security in Asia. It emphasises the prevailing factors endangering the security of nuclear and radiological materials in Asia.

Visas: How They Work—An India–Bangladesh Case Study

A visa is issued to facilitate an individual’s travel to another country in a regulated way. There are agreements between some countries on a no-visa regime; however, most countries do follow some sort of visa system. Typically, a visa allows a person to travel to the destination country as far as the port of entry (airport, seaport or land border crossing) and advises the immigration officer to allow the visitor to enter the country.

Sandeep Chakravorty , Sumit Chaturvedi |
May 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Army: The Be-All or End-All of Pakistan Politics?

Witness to three fully fledged coups, Pakistan’s beleaguered political history has been consistently punctured with prolonged stints of military rule. Although a democratic state in principle, it is the episodic rule by the military that has inflicted Pakistan’s political destiny and shaped its political culture and practices. In May 2013, there was a rather peaceful transition—the first of its kind—from one popularly elected incumbent government to another.

Jonathan Matusitz, Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Maryland, 2014

Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior explores an important but under-represented aspect of terrorism: the meanings of both physical and non-physical symbols in terrorism, and how culture, belief systems and internal and external forces come to create such symbolic meanings and processes. Jonathan Matusitz, the author of the book, manages to ‘unpack’ this clearly through 16 chapters that each take a different angle in explaining the origins and reasons of various forms of terrorism (both past and current).