Korea’s rapid economic transformation from being one of the poorest countries during the 1950s to becoming a member of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996 surprised the world, and is often considered the ‘Miracle on the Han River’. Within a period of a few decades, Korea became an economic powerhouse and one of the largest producers and exporters of steel, ships, automobiles, cell phones, etc. In recent years Hallyu or the ‘Korean Wave’ has taken the world by surprise.

• Ranjit Kumar Dhawan |
• November 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

The current trajectory of India–US relations is encouraging, but needs to be sustained by optimising their maritime-strategic convergence. In the maritime-configured Indo-Pacific region, the two countries could undertake substantive ‘transactions’ in the domain of geopolitics and military-strategic cooperation.

• G.S. Khurana |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

Southeast Asia appeared in India’s purview in the post-Cold War era when it realised that it could reap substantial benefits by fostering relations with parts of the world other than the West also. Moreover, the geographical and historical closeness of Southeast Asia also made India turn its eyes towards the region.

• Shivani Agrawal |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal have co-authored a marvellous treatise on the doings and inner workings of one of the most feared secret service agencies in the world—Mossad. It follows a well-trodden path of books and research that have been published about Mossad.

• Jatin Kumar |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

In May 2017, some 1,200 delegates from 110 countries, including 29 visiting heads of state and government leaders, gathered in Beijing for China’s biggest diplomatic event, which was held to showcase the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) achievements to date, as well as draft some new ideas. The forum also formalised the US$50 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, projecting it as a game-changer for Pakistan’s economy.

• Shebonti Ray Dadwal , Chithra Purushothaman |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

A dominant paradigm for militarised cyber operations, owing to a growing interest in such actions, is seeking an ability to strike back and launch cyber counter attacks immediately after being attacked. This commentary challenges view based on the argument that it leads to a contra-productive tit-for-tat game with no decisive or deterrent outcome. It argues that cyber attacks are information, which an initially passive targeted society can gather to refine and consolidate its cybersecurity and over time receive an advantage over the initial attacker.

• Jan Kallberg , Rosemary A. Burk |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

Contemporary scholarship working on Indo-Pak issues has tended to view Siachen as a bilateral issue, and therefore, not much literature has been generated analysing the conflict beyond this spatio-temporal realm. Stephen Cohen terms the battle over Siachen as a ‘struggle of two bald men over a comb’ and dismisses the conflict as militarily unimportant. Veteran journalist Myra Macdonald’s book Heights of Madness gives an excellent account of the Siachen saga from both Indian and Pakistani sides but does not provide any strategic evaluation of the conflict. Lt Gen.

• Prateek Joshi |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

South Africa arguably stands well above its regional counterparts in terms of soft power resources. This is not entirely unconnected with the uncalculated attempts by non-state actors to extend the reach of the country’s soft power status across the world. This article probes the contributions of the informal drivers of South Africa’s soft power. These ‘soft powered’ institutions and individuals (with no definite state affiliation) are critical contributors to South Africa’s soft power diplomacy.

• Olusola Ogunnubi , Oluwaseun Tella |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

The term ‘hybrid warfare’ has been used by American military experts for more than a decade already. However, until recently, there was no officially accepted definition of the term, and, thus, an ambiguity existed over its meaning. As per the analysis of recent local conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine by the US political and military elite, hybrid warfare is a conflict where actors blend techniques, capabilities and resources to achieve their objectives.

• Vladimir I. Batyuk |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis

Counterinsurgency (COIN) has long been recognised as a political phenomenon, but current theoretical understandings of politics in COIN reflect ideal types, overlooking the depth and complexity of the politics of insurgency and COIN. Drawing from India’s experience in its northeastern region, this article argues that COIN theory overlooks the political agency and multiplicity of actors, as well as overlooking the fundamentally political scope of interactions that take place between them.

• Alex Waterman |
• September 2017 |
• Strategic Analysis