India’s 11th Five Year Defence Plan was completed on March 31, 2012. Throughout its currency, the plan did not receive the approval of the Union Cabinet. The ongoing 12th Defence Plan was ‘approved in principle’ by the Defence Acquisition Council of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), but has not yet been approved by the National Security Council (NSC). Also, approval without financial commitment for the full five-year term is meaningless and defence planning in India remains as ad hoc as it has been since independence.

• Gurmeet Kanwal |
• March 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

In Bargaining on Nuclear Tests, Rabinowitz examines aspects relating to the US entering into informal deals with Israel, South Africa and Pakistan in order to prevent them from testing nuclear weapons. These informal understandings turned a ‘blind eye’ to these countries’ nuclear quests as long as they did not test. The testing of nuclear weapons was seen as overtly harming American non-proliferation goals and potentially embarrassing the US administrations, given that these were America’s Cold War allies.

• S. Samuel C. Rajiv |
• March 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

The end of the Cold War was one of the defining moments in Europe’s geopolitical history. The ‘frozen spatiality’ that dominated the geopolitical space of Europe for half a century came undone. The emergence of a new spatial reality brought with it a novelty of issues that had to be dealt with by strategic and political elites and their appendages (academia and media). Their interpretation of the end of the Cold War, and the choices they made, were critical in the evolution of a particular type of geopolitical thought and foreign policy discourse.

• Nachiket Khadkiwala |
• March 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

It is clear that the Asia Pacific is a platform where various actors can be seen playing wide-ranging roles. The United States is considered one of the existing influential powers playing the role of a security provider, at least partially. On the other hand, an emerging power like India, which is expected to be more responsible and visible in the Asia Pacific region, faces several challenges both at the national and international level. David Brewster’s book discusses India’s ambitions and capabilities as well as its limitations and challenges in becoming an Asia Pacific power.

• Sampa Kundu |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

India, the IT nation, did not make a news splash at CyberTech 2014. That is worth a passing thought. Because cyber is the fifth and new domain of warfare, after land, sea, air and space.

• Suryakanthi Tripathi |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

The history of the 20th century has for a long time looked at the inhospitable Russian Tundra in winter as the most hostile battleground that armies could experience. Hitler’s defeat at Stalingrad in the bleak winter of 1942 and the decimation of his Panzer divisions by hardy and acclimatised Russian forces remains one of the key turning points of World War II.

• Arjun Subramaniam |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

Germany, located in Central Europe, has access to different national and international river basins and lakes, including the Rhine, Elbe, Danube and Lake Constance. Precipitation in Germany differs between comfortable amounts in the Alpine region (1500–2000 mm/a) to moderate amounts in the central and northern regions (600–800 mm/a). In brief, the geological conditions are in favour of successful groundwater storage.

• Martin G. Grambow |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

Mark Fitzpatrick’s book Overcoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Dangers makes a courageous attempt in advocating recognition of Pakistan as a ‘normal nuclear state’ (p. 12). The author asserts that the international community must now refrain from making Pakistan pay for its 2004 AQ Khan debacle and recognise that ‘the time has come to offer Pakistan a nuclear cooperation deal akin to India’ (p. 162).

• Reshmi Kazi |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

President Barack Obama has detailed his strategy to degrade, defeat and ultimately destroy the Islamic State (IS) (the IS is also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]) currently considered the most threatening of the various terrorist groups operating primarily in the Middle East. Fundamental to the success of the strategy is military action aimed at degrading the combat capabilities of the fighting elements of the IS.

• Sanu Kainikara |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Maoist insurgency and the internal security response, which in part flows from India’s security architecture, have become increasingly relevant in the recent past. The Maoist threat has repeatedly been referred to as the gravest internal challenge to India’s security. The impact of this threat, along with terrorism in the hinterland, has exposed the inadequacies of the country’s internal security capacities. Therefore, a book dealing with the two is a timely addition to the literature, in the Indian context.

• Vivek Chadha |
• January 2015 |
• Strategic Analysis