Strategic Analysis

Turkey, Islamic Politics and the ‘Turkish Model’

In more than three decades, ever since the Islamic-oriented National Order Party was formed in 1969, Turkish politics has been analysed by many in terms of two straitjacketed views: Islamists trying to capture power on the one hand, and on the other hand the secularists or the state elite, with the help of the military, struggling to keep the country’s political orientation towards the West to protect Turkey as a secular state. This image of Turkey has created some confusion among strategic analysts abroad in understanding Turkey and its policies.

India’s Maritime Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: An Assessment of the INS Sudarshini Expedition

INS Sudarshini, India’s Sail Training Ship (STS), was sent on a commemorative expedition to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries for six months along the monsoon trade winds route to trace India’s civilisational and cultural affinities and rejuvenate trade and maritime linkages with its neighbours in the East. The voyage was part of the commemoration of the successful completion of two decades of India’s Look East Policy, 20 years of dialogue relations with ASEAN, and 10 years of India–ASEAN summit-level partnership.

Overcoming the Ways of Matsya Nyaya

Ancient Indian political thought as given in the niti (moral law) lays down that matsya nyaya (big fish swallowing the smaller fish), which is a law of nature, must be eradicated. However, in spite of best intentions it continues to prevail in internal and international politics. Society is bound together by dharma (justice), which is the great protecting principle, and economic prosperity, moral welfare and cultural advancements are the functions of justice.

Political Economy of Madrassa Education in Bangladesh: Genesis, Growth and Impact , by Abu Barkat, Rowshan Ara, M. Taheruddin, Farid M. Zahid and Md. Badiuzzaman

Madrassas in Bangladesh have seen a rapid increase in their number in recent years. As per 2008 estimates, 9,827,742 students were enrolled in 54,130 Madrassas in the country. That meant that any third student in Bangladesh studied at a Madrassa. It is projected that by 2050 the number of Madrassas will increase to 155,108. What is alarming is not so much the number of Madrassa students as the fact that only 25 per cent of Madrassa students manage to get employed. The rest, i.e., 75 per cent remain unemployed.

Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in the Age of Globalisation by Torkel Brekke

The book is based on the premise that ‘fundamentalism’ that gives an impression of antiquity is a modern phenomenon and ‘relatively a recent thing’ (p. 17). It explains fundamentalism as a powerful reaction against modernity that has brought unprecedented linear transformations in the economic, political, scientific and educational spheres undermining the influence of tradition and religion over the past couple of centuries. Fundamentalism is an endeavour to reverse the ‘negative side’ of modernity

The Prabhakaran Saga: The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior , by S. Murari

V.Prabhakaran, the man who took up arms at the age of 17 and led one of the world's most ruthless terrorist organisations to realise the dream of the Tamil Eelam, died in the final battle with the Sri Lankan forces in May 2009, leaving behind Tamils who are a disillusioned and demoralised ‘nation’. The end of the war established the writ of the Sri Lankan state and re-established Sinhala hegemony. S. Murari, in his book The Prabhakaran Saga: The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior, depicts the Prabhakaran era in the history of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict in an objective manner.

Saudi Arabia on the Edge: the Uncertain Future of an American Ally by Thomas W. Lippman

Saudi Arabia is a country the West loves and hates simultaneously. Often termed a ‘mysterious land’, Westerners largely view Saudi Arabia as a country ‘defined by oil, terrorism and veiled women’ (p. 1). The vast oil resources of the country unfailingly increase its strategic importance which helps to foster closer ties with the Americans and the Europeans who otherwise scorn its strict religious orientations, undemocratic and closed system of governance, and the excessive social and cultural dominance of the Wahhabi religious establishment.

Two Decades of India’s Look East Policy: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity , by A.N. Ram (ed.)

This volume on the Look East Policy (LEP) is well timed. India hosted, on December 20, 2012, a Commemorative Summit to mark the two decades of partnership between India and the ASEAN and the completion of the first decade of their summit-level dialogue. A veritable practitioners' account, the volume has contributions from distinguished diplomats, journalists and academicians who have been either participants or ringside observers of a highly successful foreign policy initiative.

Australia in the Asian Century: Australian Government’s White Paper, Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s National Security

As Asia rises and the centre of gravity of strategic affairs shifts to the Asia Pacific, the Australian government is getting ready to exploit new opportunities and gear up to face new risks to its security. Until the beginning of this century, Australia's approach was to insulate itself from Asia and have minimal interaction with it. Asia was seen as a poor, troublesome and problematic region. Australia was firmly anchored in the Western alliance system.

Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty and Resource Governance in the Arctic

While oil and gas industries are already well established in Siberia and Alaska, the melting of the Arctic ice cap is opening up new areas of the High North to hydrocarbon exploration. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Arctic is expected to hold about 22 per cent of the world's undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and natural gas resources (about 13 per cent of undiscovered oil reserves, 30 per cent of natural gas, and 20 per cent of natural gas liquids).