Eminent nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy and his co-authors in the seminal volume Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out have defied the age-old perspective that nuclear weapons are the ultimate armaments of security. While courting controversy, the authors have presented nuclear issues considered taboo and yet critical. This is a bold attempt by a group of eminent scientists who ‘reject nuclear patriotism’ (p. xxii) and have delved into issues of ‘nuclear weapons, war, strategy and politics’ (p.

• Reshmi Kazi |
• January 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

More than 16 years have passed since the government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah faction, or NSCN(IM))

• Thangkhanlal Ngaihte |
• January 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

This article seeks to make a preliminary assessment of the surrender and rehabilitation policy being adopted towards Naxalites. The examples/experiences cited in this paper refer largely to cadres and leaders of Communist Party of India (Maoist), or CPI (Maoist). It is part of a multi-pronged conflict management and resolution strategy and is required to be implemented along with firm action by police against those who follow the path of violence.

• P. V. Ramana |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

In Afghanistan, the third Great Game is still on. The end of US–NATO combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 will be read by many as ‘Obama’s Vietnam’, but the retention of a small number of troops and several military facilities by the US in that country will be a source of worry for countries such as Russia, Iran and Pakistan who are concerned about US motives and moves in regard to the region, especially Central Asia’s energy resources which are already a target of international competition.

• J.K. Baral |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

The G8, Pakistan and the Pacific island states have pushed for a discussion in the United Nations (UN) Security Council on the security dimensions of climate change. As the issue gains momentum at the global and regional levels, India as an emerging power that continues to use energy and other natural resources, at the cost of stressing other countries, particularly its neighbours, will need to formulate a response.

• Mukul Sanwal |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

On 3 May 2013, Australia’s former Prime Minister Julia Gillard released the Defence White Paper (DWP) 2013, making it the sixth White Paper on defence in the history of Australia, and the third since 2000. The last Defence White Paper, entitled Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030, was released in 2009 when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was serving his first term.

• Rahul Mishra |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Arctic is beginning to test the stage-managed optics of China and Russia’s ‘strategic partnership’. Friction was most recently on display after the Arctic Council’s May 2013 decision to confer permanent observer status on Beijing. The Chinese media celebrated the move as an affirmation of the nation’s ‘legitimate rights’ in Arctic affairs.1 Russian officials were much less enthusiastic.

• Lincoln E. Flake |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

On 11 May 1998, two events took place:

(1)India carried out nuclear tests; and
(2)India declared itself to be a state with nuclear weapons.1

• Jasjit Singh |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

India–US strategic dialogue was initiated in 2009, and is organised annually in different capitals. The first round of dialogue took place against the backdrop of pessimism in the bilateral relationship. For about six months after the new Obama administration was formed, strategists in Delhi were suspicious about the durability of an India–US strategic partnership that had been painstakingly nurtured by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

• Chintamani Mahapatra |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, AVSM, VrC, VM, IAF (Retd), aged 79, passed away on August 4 2013 after a brief illness. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his condolence message, described Jasjit Singh as ‘an inspirational military leader, a brilliant strategic thinker and a prolific author on military affairs’. Tributes poured in from all corners of India and abroad. Having inspired a large number of young researchers, military personnel, diplomats and academics in strategic thinking, Jasjit Singh had a large following.

• Arvind Gupta |
• November 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis