Strategic Analysis

Political Integration of Northeast India: A Historical Analysis

Most nation-states in Asia and Africa that gained independence from colonial rulers during the middle of the 20th century are diverse in their ethnic composition. The national governments make efforts to politically integrate their constituent units in the face of the continuing resistance of several ethnic groups. India adopted various means to integrate the more than 600 princely states and other loosely administered areas.

Iran’s Influence: A Religious-Political State and Society in Its Region by Elaheh Rostami-Povey

Elaheh Rostami-Povey focuses on the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the speedy consolidation of the Islamic Republic. She argues that the Islamic Revolution did not dismantle history and progress within Iran. Rather, it provided an opportunity to form progressive grassroots movements to resist the highly autocratic and repressive nature of the Iranian state. Rostami-Povey tries to discover the links between Iran's internal political development and Islamist ideology and their connection with its mostly regional but also worldwide role.

Somali Piracy: A Form of Economic Terrorism

Piracy over the years has been driven by geography, political instability and the availability of safe havens. Apart from these established factors, economics too play a role. This article reviews and examines Somali piracy, which has flourished due to the international community ignoring the growing instability in Somalia, the rampant illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping. It examines the international response, the legal and economic factors and advocates that piracy be viewed as a form of economic terrorism and be combatted as such, as well as by land-based operations.

US Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal? by Steven W. Hook and James M. Scott

President Barack Obama entered office in January 2009 with a plateful of domestic and international challenges. The worst economic recession in decades, a financial system teetering on the brink of collapse, two increasingly costly and unpopular overseas wars, festering nuclear tensions with Iran and North Korea, isolation and distrust from the international community and the threat of international terrorism were some of the challenges Obama inherited from his predecessor, George W. Bush. US Foreign Policy Today: American Renewal?, edited by Steven W. Hook and James M.

Chinese Engagement with the Maldives: Impact on Security Environment in the Indian Ocean Region

This article explores the objectives of China's engagement in the Maldives and how the current administration of the country is responding to it. The article also looks at how the Maldives has been used by major powers in the past. On the basis of these analyses, it envisages the path that Maldivian foreign policy is likely to follow in the future and its likely impact on the security environment in the Indian Ocean region.

The US–India Nuclear Pact: Policy, Process and Great Power Politics by Harsh V. Pant

The Indo-US nuclear deal not only opened the gates of international nuclear trade for India, but it also showed that India was ready to take its rightful place among the comity of nations as an emerging power. For three long years from 2005 to 2008, the world's strongest and largest democracies were involved in intense diplomatic parleys. At stake in these negotiations was not only the normative order in the form of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), but also the very existence of the ruling political dispensation in India.

The Role of the National Solar Mission in Climate Change Mitigation and the Twin Objective of Energy Security

This article outlines the National Solar Mission's role as India's major climate change mitigation policy, arguing that India's National Solar Mission (NSM) was initially conceived to bolster India's position against legally binding commitments on carbon emissions. However, the NSM also has twin objectives in energy security. Progress in the NSM is outlined before its problems are examined in order to clarify how the Indian government may direct its development to fulfil energy security and energy access goals.

Nuclear Weapons and Conflict Transformation: The Case of India–Pakistan by Saira Khan

There are many volumes on conflict resolution and nuclear proliferation. While the conflict scholarship focuses on management, resolution and transformation of conflicts, the proliferation scholarship examines why states acquire nuclear weapons in the first place and whether or not these have any deterrent value. The book under review goes beyond these two prospects by questioning what happens when a state, in protracted conflicts, acquires nuclear weapons.

Can Unconventional Gas Be a Game-Changer for India?

The discovery of extracting unconventional (shale) gas through hydraulic fracturing has revolutionised the gas industry in the US and has given rise to a debate over whether it has the potential to reverse the emerging geopolitical equations in the global energy sector which was hitherto seen to be tilting in favour of the conventional energy producers.

Political Islam: A Critical Reader by Frederic Volpi

At the dawn of the 21st century, political Islam has become an influential religious and social force in many post-colonial states, from North Africa to South East Asia. In the context of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ‘War on Terror’, much has been written. Little has been written, however, to enable a holistic understanding of political Islam. Though some work has been done by Western scholars like Olivier Roy, the post-9/11 world has a different dynamic in which political Islam is used by terrorists to set the global discourse on the West's treatment of Muslims.