COMMENTARIES
  • Testing the Feasibility of Nuclear Confidence-Building in Southern Asia
    Shivani Singh    ·   24 Mar, 2020    ·    #5665    ·    Commentary    
    The next NPT Review Conference (RevCon)—held every five years—is so far scheduled for this year. Although India is neither party to the NPT nor an observer state at the RevCon, the deliberations and their conclusions will still have some be...
  • Strategic Space
    Cyber-Nuclear Security Challenges: An Issue that Won’t Go Away
    Manpreet Sethi    ·   23 Mar, 2020    ·    #5664    ·    Commentary    ·   Column
    As the world—pretty much the entire world—grapples with COVID-19, it is clear that the enormity of the pandemic will not leave any aspect of the economy untouched. Inter-state and societal interactions are also expected to feel the impact....
  • Tracing Strategy in China's Dual-Use Space-Based Systems
    Saman Ayesha Kidwai    ·   20 Mar, 2020    ·    #5663    ·    Commentary    
    For over a decade, Beijing has followed an asymmetric path to developing its space-based capabilities, targeting the US’s overwhelming dependence on space-based systems. This has much to do with the fact that the US used space primarily for m...
  • China’s Luban Workshops and BRI: Emerging Patterns
    Nowmay Opalinski    ·   20 Mar, 2020    ·    #5662    ·    Commentary    
    Although seemingly straightforward, China’s creation and utilisation of the ‘Luban Workshops’ must be understood in conjunction with Beijing’s strategy of internationalisation of its entire education system.‘Luban Workshops’: Origi...
  • Climate Change: A National Security Threat Multiplier
    Yash Vardhan Singh    ·   17 Mar, 2020    ·    #5661    ·    Commentary    
    Environmental risks arising from climate change are now considered to be powerful threat multipliers. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2020 identifies five of the top ten global risks as being of an environmental nature, owing to...
  • Indian Defence Procurement and the Questionable Value of Staggered Purchases
    Siddharth Anil Nair    ·   17 Mar, 2020    ·    #5660    ·    Commentary    
    The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Bipin Rawat has announced that India will employ a 'staggered purchases' approach to its defence procurement for the foreseeable future. Staggered purchasing is the procurement of small orders of defence eq...
  • In Context: Iran’s 2020 Parliamentary Election
    Majid Izadpanahi    ·   15 Mar, 2020    ·    #5659    ·    Commentary    
    Developments that took place in the run up to Iran’s February 2020 parliamentary elections polls indicate that not only was this election more significant and different from all post-1979 polls in the country, but that they also portend long ...
  • What Role for Taiwan in Act East 2.0?
    Ashutosh Nagda    ·   13 Mar, 2020    ·    #5658    ·    Commentary    
    On 11 January, Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected as president of Taiwan in a landslide victory, with a continued legislative majority for her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tsai and the DPP are expected to further promote policies that decrease ...
  • Rehabilitating Surrendered Militants in J&K: Lessons from Past Experiences
    Shivangi Seth    ·   09 Mar, 2020    ·    #5657    ·    Commentary    
    In 2018, New Delhi directed the then Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Governor, Satya Pal Malik, to formulate a new surrender and rehabilitation policy for ex-militants to J&K, a draft of which was floated in 2019. Post the state’s reorganisa...
  • The Gendered Impact of the NRC in Assam
    Akanksha Khullar    ·   09 Mar, 2020    ·    #5656    ·    Commentary    
    The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a mammoth exercise requiring individuals to prove their Indian citizenship through admissible documentation. So far, it has been conducted in Assam. The experience has demonstrated inherent structural...
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