The article is an attempt to study the history of the Tedim Road, a 265 km transborder road connecting Imphal (the capital of Manipur in India) with Tedim in the Chin Hills (Chin State) in western Burma (Myanmar). It was constructed by the British solely for the purpose of facilitating military movements along the India–Burma frontier during the Second World War.

• Pum Khan Pau |
• September 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

The objective of this article is to critically analyse the discourse within the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or known as UCPN (Maoist) since its evolution and find out whether the Maoists have adapted themselves to the democratic process well by using democracy as a tool to achieve their own revolutionary political objectives. The article argues that the internal Maoist discourse reflects that there is no change in the UCPN (Maoist) strategy or political goals. They have only changed their tactics to suit the situation.

• Nihar R. Nayak |
• September 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

This article is an attempt to understand India's concerns over the Diamer Bhasha dam project within the overall ambit of India's approach towards Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It makes a holistic assessment of the feasibility of the project, the political and technical issues involved in it, the long-term strategy of Pakistan and China in the region, and the local reactions, which must inform India's future policy preferences regarding PoK. The article is divided into three parts.

• Priyanka Singh |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

Professor Mohan Malik teaches at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu and comes across as a typical academic and scholar—earnest, animated and absolutely convinced of the accuracy and authenticity of his research. When one adds the years of domain knowledge of what is turning out to be amongst the most discussed rivalries of the early 21st century—the India–China contest for strategic space in Asia—what you have is a sure recipe for a scholarly masterpiece.

• Arjun Subramaniam |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is Iran's most powerful security and military organisation, responsible for the protection and survival of the regime. Over time, the IRGC has attained a position of dominance vis-à-vis the regular army (Artesh). In due course, the Guards have also been transformed into a leading political and economic actor. The major political role of the IRGC started with the election of the reformist presidency. However, the Guards' involvement in the Iranian economy began during Rafsanjani's presidency.

• M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

The ethnic unrest in Xinjiang has been in the news for several years now. In 2009, nearly 200 people were killed in Han–Uighur ethnic clashes. Since then Uighur unrest has drawn international attention. The Chinese authorities have handled the Uighur unrest with an iron fist. The local media is suppressed, outsiders do not have free access and the security forces have free rein. The local communist party chief is the de facto ruler.

• Arvind Gupta |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

The India–Afghanistan relationship is not a simple bilateral engagement. India's Afghan policy is driven by, and is dependent on, many extraneous factors such as India's troubled relationship with Pakistan, its search for a land transit to Central Asia through Iran and Afghanistan and its concerns regarding use of Afghan territory by Pakistan to the detriment of Indian interests. Given the geographical constraints, India has relied on Iran for land access to Afghanistan. This has been complicated by Iran–US relations —the two countries with whom India shares common interests.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

The available literature on defence planning in India does not make for very encouraging reading. A few things stand out. Firstly, there is an acute dearth, if not almost complete absence, of authentic official accounts and analysis of what has gone on in the name of defence planning over the last six decades. Secondly, narratives based either on personal recollection or on opinions and views of those who have directly or indirectly been associated with defence planning at different points of time have filled this void. Others have chipped in too.

• Amit Cowshish |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

This article develops the message that the artificially introduced administrative borders during the Soviet era, which were subject to the processes of re-delimitation after 1991, whether for reasons of security, administration, mutual distrust or the population's ethnic attachment, have become results and means of political manipulation and pressurisation. This has resulted in further pushing regional states to follow mutually exclusive policies.

• Timur Dadabaev |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis

China and India are two of the fastest growing economies of the world today. While it may seem like the proverbial hare and tortoise race, with China way ahead, there is no denying the fact that both economies will be looking for additional energy resources, mineral resources, secure lines of communication, higher productivity at lower cost and finally, of course, larger markets to sustain this growth.

• Deepak Kapoor |
• July 2012 |
• Strategic Analysis