Strategic Analysis

Can Taiwan Talk ‘Political’ with the Mainland?

An investigation into the prospects for including political talks in the cross-strait dialogue enables a better assessment of cross-strait relations. China’s push for political talks and Taiwan’s resistance to them imply that their political positions on the fundamental issues of sovereignty and ‘living space’ for Taiwan remain unchanged. Considering Taiwan’s complex domestic political scenario, which is largely against unification with Mainland China, the likelihood of Taiwan agreeing to political talks for unification is remote.

Alan J. Kuperman, Nuclear Terrorism and Global Nuclear Security: The Challenge of Phasing out Highly Enriched Uranium, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, 2013

Alan J. Kuperman’s edited volume Nuclear Terrorism and Global Nuclear Security: The Challenge of Phasing out Highly Enriched Uranium explores the prospects and challenges involved in the process of global elimination of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). Global commerce in HEU poses the inherent dangers of nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Recognising the above, the volume asserts that, ‘given the vast majority of non-weapons HEU commerce persist[ing]’ (p. 3), the international community needs to undertake concerted measures to minimise the dangers of HEU commerce.

An Assessment of the Chinese Dream: 2015

In November 2012, soon after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), President Xi Jinping put forward for the first time the idea of the ‘Chinese Dream’. In March 2013, Xi further elaborated on this concept at the closing ceremony of the First Session of the 12th National People’s Congress.

Saudi Arabia: King Salman Faces the 21st Century

Since assuming the throne on January 23, 2015 following the death of King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s new monarch, King Salman, seems to have set about the task of shaking up the ultraconservative kingdom. The punishment or pardoning of Raef Badawi became the litmus test of the new Saudi monarch’s reign as the blogger’s sentence coincided with the last days of the ailing King Abdullah and King Salman was compelled to face his personal past as promoter of Islamic fundamentalism abroad.

Future of India–China Boundary: Leadership Holds the Key?

Will India and China resolve their boundary dispute during the tenure of Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping? The strategic communities in both countries are optimistic, particularly after the high tension prevailing along the border during President Xi Jinping’s tour of India in September 2014. Both Prime Minister Modi and President Xi are seen as decisive leaders.1 Both are expected to hold power in their respective countries for a few years to come. Personalities and personas matter greatly for scoring political brownie points. The boundary dispute, quintessentially, is political in nature.

China’s ‘Maritime Bases’ in the IOR: A Chronicle of Dominance Foretold

After a successful visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Colombo in March, Indian policy elite are hopeful that the new Sri Lankan government will roll-back some of the geopolitical concessions made by the Rajapaksa regime to Beijing, thereby restoring India’s primacy in its near neighbourhood. India’s policy elite are hopeful that Maithripala Sirisena, the new president, will roll back some of the geopolitical concessions made by his predecessor to Beijing, thereby restoring Indian primacy in its near neighbourhood.

China’s Asia Strategy under President Xi Jinping

China has reoriented its foreign policy strategy since Xi Jinping became president. This could significantly recast China’s relations with Asian countries. The process that began with Xi Jinping’s coming to power in 2012–2013 reached, in a sense, a definitive moment, with the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs held in Beijing in November 2014.

Israel–Gaza Crisis: Understanding the War Crimes Debate

The long conflict between Israel and Palestine took a turn for the worse after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014.

The ‘Sir Creek’ Dispute: Contours, Implications and the Way Ahead

Sir Creek, the 17th and last drainage branch of the river Indus, is a meandering riverine feature approximately 92 km (50 NM) long in the low-lying marshy region of Rann of Kutch. The Sir Creek boundary dispute between India and Pakistan is rooted in differing interpretations of the 1914 resolution passed by the Government of Bombay (GoB) or Bombay Residency.

Future of India–Nepal Relations: Is China a Factor?

Nepal shares an open border of 1,868 km with five Indian states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim) and 1,415 km with Tibet. Under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship with India, Nepali citizens enjoy ‘national’ treatment and Nepali businesses unhindered rights of trade, transit and movement. An estimated six million Nepalese live and work in India and contribute to their inward remittances. Social intercourse along the Gangetic plane is described by people as ‘roti-beti ka sambandh’ (a relationship based on sharing of hearth and marriage).