Propelled by its rapid economic growth, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is undergoing multitudes of transitions simultaneously. These transitions are substantially transforming state–society relations in China. The conventional wisdom about China in the reform era has been that the Communist Party of China’s (CPC’s) legitimacy to rule comes from its continued economic performance; in other words, the Chinese people will not bother with the kind of regime they have if they are well fed and their economic aspirations are taken care of.

• Avinash Godbole |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Engaging with a multilateral body requires constructive foreign policy forethought, especially for a country that is not a fully fledged member of that body. China’s overtures to the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) exemplify this approach. The Indian Ocean and India are the two most immediate elements in China’s policy approach to the IORA. With 20 member states, extra-territorial major powers as important dialogue partners, and the increasing importance of energy politics in the region, the IORA today is a significant multilateral body in China’s calculus.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

This is Jaswant Singh’s eleventh known book, and here he keeps his focus on experiences rather than rhetoric to deal with the complex design of India’s security challenges. While relying judiciously on first-hand experiences, the author justifies his long eventful overtures in public life and also as an avid researcher, who has spent decades participating in and observing India’s security establishment from close quarters.

• Atul K. Thakur |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

The foreign policy of a country generally changes incrementally but in the case of Bangladesh it changes dramatically towards India depending upon which political party or alliance is in power. The ideological cleavage prevailing in the country affects not only its domestic politics but also its relationship with its neighbour India. In this article an attempt has been made to explain why and how the domestic politics of Bangladesh affects India–Bangladesh relations.

• Anand Kumar |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Ever since India and Pakistan went overtly nuclear in 1998, a plethora of studies by scholars, both from the subcontinent and outside, have pondered the issues of ‘deterrence stability’ and ‘escalation control’ in South Asia. While the majority of them extrapolated the Cold War type of scenario to the South Asian nuclear discourse, the book under review stands out—for not attributing ‘the primary dangers … to a lack of professionalism on the part of those responsible for nuclear stewardship’ (p. 9).

• Sitakanta Mishra |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Growing international concerns about human rights violations in the last phase of the Eelam war and the continued surveillance and intimidation of the Tamils in Sri Lanka have drawn the attention of their co-ethnics across the world. The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which had detached itself from the political events in Sri Lanka after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, has renewed its interest. In the post-war phase, the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils has become an emotive issue.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

The issue of cybersecurity as an issue for international security has captured the attention of policy makers around the world. A 2011 United Nations (UN) assessment found that only 68 of the 193 UN member states had cybersecurity programmes. By 2012, this had increased to 114 countries. Of the nations with cybersecurity programmes, roughly 40 have publicly identified cybersecurity as a military concern in national military strategies or defence white papers.

• James A. Lewis |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

At first glance, there was no coherent regional and international response to the transitions triggered in the Arab world since December 2010 as external players, both regional and international, had to confront with unceasing alarm the rapidity of change threatening to unravel in critical Arab states. However, as events in the region progressed, a pattern emerged to the external responses, one that was as predictive as it was differentiated.

• Melissa Cyrill |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Cyber terrorism is a phenomenon that is gaining more and more attention. One reason for this is the concern that modern information and communications technology may be used in order to harm open societies. This concern also involves actual IT systems and the information generated being targets of advanced attacks. That way functions that are important to society could be affected. The term ‘cyber terrorism’ is complex. This article describes the difference between traditional and cyber terrorism.

• Roland Heickerö |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

More than a decade has passed since the European Union (EU) signed strategic partnerships with China (2003) and India (2004). The EU’s ‘honeymoon’ with China was over within a few years while cooperation on truly strategic issues with India is yet to emerge. The core of both these relationships is still economics.

• Gulshan Sachdeva |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis