Strategic Analysis

Two Decades of India’s Look East Policy: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity , by A.N. Ram (ed.)

This volume on the Look East Policy (LEP) is well timed. India hosted, on December 20, 2012, a Commemorative Summit to mark the two decades of partnership between India and the ASEAN and the completion of the first decade of their summit-level dialogue. A veritable practitioners' account, the volume has contributions from distinguished diplomats, journalists and academicians who have been either participants or ringside observers of a highly successful foreign policy initiative.

Majoritarian State and the Marginalised Minorities: The Hindus in Bangladesh

The problem confronting the Hindu minority in Bangladesh is analysed in this article within the framework of a majoritarian state, which embodies the socio-cultural ethos of the majority community in its effort to establish itself as a nation state with a unique history. Such a state by its very nature marginalises the minorities, who are considered unequal in the construction of the ‘nation state’ narrative even though constitutionally they enjoy equality as citizens.

Australia in the Asian Century: Australian Government’s White Paper, Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s National Security

As Asia rises and the centre of gravity of strategic affairs shifts to the Asia Pacific, the Australian government is getting ready to exploit new opportunities and gear up to face new risks to its security. Until the beginning of this century, Australia's approach was to insulate itself from Asia and have minimal interaction with it. Asia was seen as a poor, troublesome and problematic region. Australia was firmly anchored in the Western alliance system.

Trilateral Security Cooperation: Nepal’s New Foreign Policy

Nepal's King Prithvi Narayan Shah's famous ‘Yam between two boulders’ quote reflects the great understanding of Nepal's security dilemma, even as far back as the 18th century. 1 This has remained a cornerstone of Nepal's foreign policy to date, primarily driven by Nepal's geographic location. 2 Shah understood well that Nepal would always remain insecure vis-à-vis its powerful neighbours, that is, China and India, and urged the need to keep refining, adapting and adjusting Nepal's foreign policy in order to deal with its powerful regional neighbours.

Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty and Resource Governance in the Arctic

While oil and gas industries are already well established in Siberia and Alaska, the melting of the Arctic ice cap is opening up new areas of the High North to hydrocarbon exploration. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Arctic is expected to hold about 22 per cent of the world's undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and natural gas resources (about 13 per cent of undiscovered oil reserves, 30 per cent of natural gas, and 20 per cent of natural gas liquids).

How will India Respond to Civil War in Pakistan?

In 1971, India intervened militarily on behalf of Bengalis in the civil war in East Pakistan, dividing the country into two. The prospect of another civil war in Pakistan pitting radical Islamists against the secular but authoritarian military raises questions about the possibility, timing, objective, and nature of another Indian intervention.

Energy Strategy for the Indian Navy: Need, Scope and a Roadmap

‘Energy’ is a key enabler of military combat power and it should be considered a strategic resource for the Indian Navy (IN). This article justifies the necessity of ensuring energy security for the IN in the backdrop of emerging energy challenges. It also discusses certain recent developments that point to the growing relevance of an energy policy for the IN. The article then discusses the contours and the scope of an integrated energy policy and proposes a roadmap for implementing an energy strategy for the IN.

Can Robust Bilateral Cooperation on Common Rivers between Bangladesh and India Enhance Multilateral Cooperation on Water Security in South Asia?

The Himalayan river system, which is made up of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, has a combined drainage area that covers the countries of China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The basin of the Indus river, which originates in the Tibetan plateau, is the lifeline of regions in China, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

China and IBSA: Possible BRICS Overreach?

The India–Brazil–South Africa (IBSA) forum, which was formalised in June 2003 through the adoption of the Brasilia Declaration based on the spirit of South–South solidarity, turns a decade old in 2013. The event will be celebrated at its first decadal summit in New Delhi. At the same time, this event needs to be juxtaposed with the fifth consecutive leadership summit of Brazil–Russia–India–China–South Africa (BRICS) in Durban in March 2013. Both IBSA and BRICS are in the limelight for their cross-continental politics.

The International Ambitions of Mao and Nehru: National Efficacy Beliefs and the Making of Foreign Policy by Andrew Bingham Kennedy

India and China represented two of the most dynamic anomalies within the international system during the height of the Cold War era in the 1950s. Both states were considered thus, as the world, particularly Western nations, looked upon their prospective futures with varying degrees of scepticism.