There have been several accounts of India's engagement with the United Nations but this book focuses particularly on the idea of One World, something greater than the UN. The need for a potent peace constituency amidst the increasing number of conflict zones with transnational and global impacts bolsters the rationale for an efficient global governing body, One World reified. The book has six chapters with a short prologue and epilogue. Manu Bhagavan presents a fine historical account of India's efforts for One World.

• Saurabh Mishra |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh astutely raises multiple questions in his article in order to trigger a debate. But his take on today's Myanmar is evident from the first paragraph (‘This time the change that is occurring is substantive, not cosmetic’) and the last paragraph (‘Myanmar is poised for change; incremental change will surely gather momentum once the dithering ends’). I hold a different perspective on the country's internal politics and external relations, which is reflected in the analysis.

• Rajiv Bhatia |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

The basic point is that crude oil is a finite resource. Hence, the issue is not ‘if’ crude oil peaks and availability declines, but ‘when’ it peaks and starts its decline. Peak oil is the theoretical point in time at which oil production peaks and begins to fall. Here we refer only to peaking of conventional oil.

• S.C.N. Jatar |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

Two Decades of India's Look East Policy edited by Amar Nath Ram is a compilationof scholarly contributions by 12 former ambassadors, an eminent academic-diplomat, a maritime strategy expert and a journalist. As a diplomat who was, as it were, present at the creation, Ram is eminently qualified to comment on how the Look East policy (LEP) has evolved since it was formulated.

• Udai Bhanu Singh |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

1. In general terms, it is my impression that the author is far too optimistic about what recent changes in Myanmar can lead to. Power is still in the hands of the military and there is precious little a small group of National League for Democracy (NLD) assemblymen and women (seven per cent of the total) can accomplish. Besides, the November 2010 election was blatantly rigged, and there is no guarantee that the next election, in 2015, will not also be tampered with.

• Bertil Lintner |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

The power blackouts on 30 July 2012, first in north India and again in north, north-east and eastern India, which plunged seven northern Indian states into darkness for several hours, disrupting normal life, underline the critical state of the country's energy security. Apart from the discomfort and inconvenience to residents, several essential services such as water supply, city transport systems (including the metro and national railways), mining, health and banking and financial sectors, came to a standstill for hours.

• Shebonti Ray Dadwal |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Sino-Indian border dispute is one of the longest running border disputes in the world, which has so far eluded a solution. While China has settled its territorial disputes with most of its neighbours, including Russia and Vietnam, the border dispute with India is yet to be resolved, even after 15 rounds of negotiation under the new framework of Special Representative Talks initiated in 2003 during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China, which indeed gave an impetus to the border talks.

• R N Das |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

Dr. Singh's article summarises parts of Myanmar's reform process. However, he misses out the historical background that led to the current reforms and he does not unpack some of the more complex factors in this process. This critique/response will try to complete the picture of the three top priorities of the Myanmar government: national reconciliation, ethnic peace and economic reforms.

• Marie Lall |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

One cannot deny the inexorable advantage that geography has given Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Being the only link between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and Pakistan, PoK is truly the ‘umbilical cord’—a bond that is symbolical of the very deep relationship between the two countries. The PRC has at various forums asserted that it only has an economic interest in PoK and has openly denied the presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in PoK.

• Mandip Singh |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis

Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge follows a long line of books that tap into America's preoccupation with retaining its pole position as the repository of cutting edge technology, and the resultant dominance this offers it across the political, economic and military spectrum. These books are a subset within the wider pre-occupation of responding to the rise of the Asian powers, and a shift of the geopolitical centre of gravity from the Euro-Atlantic to the Asian landmass.

• Cherian Samuel |
• January 2013 |
• Strategic Analysis