More than seven decades after Pakistan’s creation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah continues to captivate both his critics and admirers. While the former excoriate him for exploiting religion to achieve his goal, the latter hail him as the Qaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) who single-handedly secured a homeland for the Muslims of British India.

• Amit Cowshish |
• May 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

On February 18, SKY News UK trumpeted that ‘Lockdown is working! COVID-19 infection rate plummets in England’. Yet, as Figure 1 shows, Sweden with voluntary social distancing guidelines experienced an earlier and faster decline of COVID deaths per capita. The other interesting feature about the figure is how the mortality curves are policy-invariant, mimicking one another regardless of policy interventions between Sweden, the UK and the EU countries. The virus infection, hospitalization and mortality curves seem to rise and fall by seasons, independent of lockdowns.

• Ramesh Thakur , David Redman |
• May 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The article attempts to explain India’s contrasting strategic choices with regard to China-led initiatives in South Asia. While India chose to join the AIIB, it has opposed the BRI. While the India–China relationship has been defined by the security dilemma for long, China’s involvement in the region makes the security dimension even more salient. More so, because infrastructure connectivity projects change the existing relations of power and influence.

• Devendra Kumar |
• May 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

Since its enactment in October 1998, the International Religious Freedom Act has become a major instrument to further the American foreign policy agenda in the Middle East and elsewhere. While the annual reports are a great source of information on lesser-known facts and shifts concerning religious minorities, they also underscore an inherent bias in favour of Christian missionaries, politicization of the minority question and American exceptionalism.

• P. R. Kumaraswamy |
• May 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The policies, actions and postures of the United States Administration towards Bangladesh from March 1971 to December 1971 form the subject matter of this article.

• Jayanta Kumar Ray |
• March 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The article looks back on China’s proposal and promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to Vietnam, as well as Vietnam’s official position and response to this initiative. The implementation of agreements between the two countries is analysed by evaluating two key areas of the BRI in Vietnam, namely facilities connectivity, and trade and investment. China was active in promoting the BRI, whereas Vietnam welcomed the initiative with caution. Cooperation in the two key areas has been promoted.

• Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa , Pham Thao Nguyen |
• March 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The role of Indonesia in the South China Sea (SCS) disputes has been limited to being part of the ASEAN team since the country is not one of the active claimants. Jakarta has tried to sidestep its maritime row with Beijing by emphasizing the lack of a “territorial dispute’ between the two countries. The article analyzes the role and position of Indonesia in the SCS disputes and argues that despite Indonesia’s reluctance to be an active or direct claimant state, developments in recent years have dragged her into the disputes and she will remain involved until a mutually acceptable solution is achieved in the overarching problem of the SCS.

• Nehginpao Kipgen |
• March 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The article aims to trace the surveying and mapping of China during the 252-year period, prior to 1960 in order to connect it with the evolution of the Sino-Indian boundary. What emerges is that the Manchu was dependent on foreigners for the first modern maps of China made to scale with longitude/latitude lines. Through these maps no territorial claim against India had been made.

• Sunil Khatri |
• March 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The performance of the agricultural and industrial sectors during 1971 acquires an added significance as 1971 happens to be the first year of China’s ambitious Fourth Five-Year Plan. This Plan visualized new dimensions for the policies in these two basic sectors. This policy has aimed at optimum utilization of all factors of productions increasing the operational efficiency of both peasants and industrial labour through material incentives like private plots

• Sreedhar |
• January 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison, by Ahmet T. Kuru, Bruce E. Porteous Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University, is a recent book on economics and history that compares the history of Islam and Europe, and through it, finds the roots of authoritarianism and its role in (under)development. Kuru seeks to answer the question why Islamic societies, as developed before the ninth century, gradually took the path of decline and underdevelopment, and this trend has continued to this day.

• Javad Heiran-Nia |
• January 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis