COMMENTARIES
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After the Collapsed US-Russia Agreement, Advantage Assad
Derek Verbakel · 21 Oct, 2016 · #5159 · Commentary
On 19 September, the Russia-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared dead the flawed-but-hyped peace deal enacted a week earlier by the US and Russia. The agreement aimed to cease hostilities between warring groups; provide hum...
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The Strategist
The Misshapen Pivot
Vijay Shankar · 21 Oct, 2016 · #5158 · Commentary · Column
We note, with some anxiety, an unmistakable parallel to the current situation in the Western Pacific with what obtained in the run-up to the 20th century. An impending face-off between a rising and revisionist China against a loose entente of st...
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Fragile States Index 2016
FSI and Nepal
Pramod Jaiswal · 21 Oct, 2016 · #5157 · Commentary
The Fund for Peace's (FFP) twelfth annual Fragile States Index (FSI) ranked 178 countries based on measures of their stability and the pressures they face. Initially called 'Failed States Index', it was renamed as 'Fragile States...
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The Myanmar Border Attacks: Whodunit?
Angshuman Choudhury · 21 Oct, 2016 · #5156 · Commentary
On 9 October 2016, around 300 assailants, armed with swords, spears, and homemade weapons, launched a coordinated attack on several police outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine State close to the Bangladesh border, killing nine police officers and w...
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Social Component of Counterterrorism: The Need of the Hour
N Manoharan & Anumeha Singh · 20 Oct, 2016 · #5155 · Commentary
Thanks to Harinder Bains, Ahmad Rahami, the suspect in the New York and New Jersey blasts was recently apprehended by the police. Bains is neither an intelligence agent nor a security official but a common man, who spotted Rahami sleeping in the...
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Red Affairs
End Game: Fractured and Scarred Tribal Communities
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 19 Oct, 2016 · #5154 · Commentary · Column
For the left-wing extremism problem in India to be resolved, tribal population in the affected areas must be won over by the State. This truism is reflected in public statements of ministers and other politicians as well as official policy docum...
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Spotlight West Asia
The Battle for Aleppo and the Imminent Regional Shifts
Ranjit Gupta · 13 Oct, 2016 · #5153 · Commentary · Column
Aleppo, the crossroads of civilisation for millennia, Syria’s largest city, and its main commercial and cultural centre, is also the most important strategic gateway from Turkey into Syria. Controlling Aleppo is essential for any ruler to ...
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Dateline Colombo
Understanding our “Blindspot†to Make Peacebuilding Comprehensive
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera · 13 Oct, 2016 · #5152 · Commentary · Column
“The sailor cannot see the North —but knows the needle can.”
– Emily Dickinson, in a letter to a mentor, TW Higginson, seeking an honest evaluation of her talent (1862)
The young soldiers and Tamilia...
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Evaluating Sri Lanka’s Regional Priorities
Husanjot Chahal · 10 Oct, 2016 · #5151 · Commentary
While embarking on a two-day visit to New Delhi in October 2016, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was probably aware of the forthcoming challenges. Sri Lanka had recently announced that the prevailing regional environment wa...
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Eagle Eye
Critical Challenges to the Indo-US Strategic Partnership
Chintamani Mahapatra · 10 Oct, 2016 · #5150 · Commentary · Column
The strategic partnership between India and the US has slowly and steadily been moving in an upwardly trajectory through periodic turbulences. However, as the world's balance of power has entered a serious phase of transition, New Delhi and ...
