Strategic Analysis

Interpreting China’s Third Plenum

Xi Jinping’s new reformist approach of 2013 is a close reflection of Deng Xiaoping’s prescription of 1978. The Chinese political leadership is tightening its political grip and loosening economic control. China has a tradition of leadership being an economic rightist and a political leftist at the same time. The thesis of Xi Jinping is based upon the conception that one should not use post-reform history to negate the pre-reform years. It also says that one should not ‘exaggerate’ Mao Zedong’s mistakes but should acknowledge his contributions.

Keshab Chandra Ratha , Sushanta Kumar Mahapatra |
July 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Challenges to the Revision of the Nepal–India 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty

The contemporary strategic and political environment has gone through tremendous changes in comparison to the context in which the 1950 treaty was signed. The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s August 2014 visit to Nepal, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years, has rekindled the hope of improving Nepal–India relations, including revision of the 1950 treaty. Against this backdrop, this article argues that without understanding India’s strategic, security-related and political concerns, revision of the 1950 treaty is highly unlikely.

Northeastern India and its neighbours: negotiating security and development by Rakhee Bhattacharya

The insurgency movement in Northeast India, demanding various forms of autonomy including independence, is a constant concern for the maintenance of the country’s unity. It is further complicated due to the region’s strategic location, being almost entirely surrounded by several countries, and hence any development in these countries will certainly have implications for Northeast India.

Visas: How They Work—An India–Bangladesh Case Study

A visa is issued to facilitate an individual’s travel to another country in a regulated way. There are agreements between some countries on a no-visa regime; however, most countries do follow some sort of visa system. Typically, a visa allows a person to travel to the destination country as far as the port of entry (airport, seaport or land border crossing) and advises the immigration officer to allow the visitor to enter the country.

Sandeep Chakravorty , Sumit Chaturvedi |
May 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Army: The Be-All or End-All of Pakistan Politics?

Witness to three fully fledged coups, Pakistan’s beleaguered political history has been consistently punctured with prolonged stints of military rule. Although a democratic state in principle, it is the episodic rule by the military that has inflicted Pakistan’s political destiny and shaped its political culture and practices. In May 2013, there was a rather peaceful transition—the first of its kind—from one popularly elected incumbent government to another.

Jonathan Matusitz, Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Maryland, 2014

Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior explores an important but under-represented aspect of terrorism: the meanings of both physical and non-physical symbols in terrorism, and how culture, belief systems and internal and external forces come to create such symbolic meanings and processes. Jonathan Matusitz, the author of the book, manages to ‘unpack’ this clearly through 16 chapters that each take a different angle in explaining the origins and reasons of various forms of terrorism (both past and current).

Diverging Australian and Indian Views on the Indo-Pacific

Australia has a vital interest in preventing the Indian Ocean Region from becoming an arena of great power rivalry, including between India and China. The 2013 Defence White Paper clearly delineates the Indo-Pacific as an area of supreme importance to Australia. Developing a close strategic partnership with India is an important part of this strategy.

Melissa H. Conley Tyler , Aakriti Bhutoria |
May 2015 |
Strategic Analysis

Vanda Felbab-Brown, Aspiration and Ambivalence: Strategies and Realities of Counterinsurgency and State Building in Afghanistan, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC

After 13 years of international engagement, political and security scenarios appear to be uncertain in Afghanistan. The unity government formed through a power-sharing agreement between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah faces multiple external and internal challenges. Analysts remain sceptical about the future of the government itself.

Impossible Devolution? The Failure of Power-Sharing Attempts in Sri Lanka

The concept of a ‘primordial homeland’ has been at the centre of Sri Lanka’s armed struggle, in which both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalisms have used claims of ancient and ethnically determined territories to justify their right to self-determination, territorial sovereignty and armed struggle.

Rajat Kathuria and Sanjana Joshi (eds.), Forty Years of India–Korea Relations and Looking Ahead, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2014

The year 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between India and South Korea. Even though during the Cold War, India–South Korea relations had to overcome several hiccups, they started flourishing following the end of the Cold War. In fact, in the last two decades the relationship has witnessed tremendous growth in a wide range of areas, including economic, political, socio-cultural and security. Unfortunately, not much work has been undertaken to deal with India–South Korea relations in detail.