CIAO DATE: 02/2008
Volume: 27, Issue: 4
October-December 2003
India's Internal Security Challenges (PDF)
Ved Marwah
I deem it a privilege to be invited to deliver the IDSA Foundation Lecture. Since inception in November 1965, under the stewardship of the late Shri Y B Chavan and the subsequent direction provided by Shri K Subrahmanyam, former Director, the IDSA has acquired a creditable profile. Over the years, the IDSA has played a commendable role in enriching the security discourse and deliberations in India. It is in this context that I propose to share my thoughts with you on a matter of concern to all of us, namely, "India's Internal Security Challenges".
US and the Asia-Pacific: Future of the Alliance System and Regional Security (PDF)
G.V.C. Naidu
The article critically looks at relevance of the US alliance system in the Asia-Pacific in the context of the changing nature of threats and challenges that the U.S. is confronted with in the light of American military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. The paper argues that the American policy in Asia, which so far has been premised on bilateral alliances and forward deployment, is likely to undergo fundamental changes because the principal partners, South Korea and Japan, may not be very useful either in counter-terrorism efforts or low-intensity wars. This, in turn, may enhance India's importance to US policies in the Asia-Pacific.
Bodo Insurgency in Assam: New Accord and New Problems (PDF)
Monoj Kumar Nath
Network Centric Warfare in the Context of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' (PDF)
Shitanshu Mishra
The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) moves on the wheels of Technology, Doctrine and Organisation; however, the main support structure, which gives it the predominant strength, is undoubtedly the technology. The changing concepts of warfare are driven by the available technology of the times. While sophisticated weapons and sensors have greatly enhanced combat efficiency, developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have enabled greater connectivity and information sharing among widely spread force components. The concept of networking in business enterprises has found an equivalent in warfare in what is now referred to as 'Network Centric Warfare (NCW)'. NCW rests on the premise that the power of a force grows proportionate to the extent of networking among the weapons, sensors and the command and control (C2) elements, quite akin to Metcalf Law, which is applicable to any network. NCW not only enhances situational awareness, it is expected to drastically reduce the time for decision-making at higher levels of command.
Military Innovation: Hurdles, Bumps and Jumps (PDF)
Girish Luthra
Military innovation is peculiar and distinctive, and has no direct parallels. The military environment itself, with focus on hierachy, discipline and tradition makes innovation a daunting challenge. The process is further influenced by civil-military relations and metrics used for measuring effectiveness of innovative efforts. Factors influencing the process of military innovation vary when examining innovation at the policy and strategy level, at the doctrinal level, during peacetime and under conditions of war. A deeper examination of the process is also essential since innovation is a prerequisite for any revolution, and thus has a direct bearing on the ongoing debate about RMA.
From Central to Peripheral: The United Nations and the Recent Iraq Crisis (PDF)
Tasneem Meenai
The United Nations was founded on the principles of sovereign equality of its member states. The sovereignty exercised by states in their domestic jurisdiction and external relations was to be upheld in the conduct of international relations especially through the UN. However, the recent developments culminating in the United States-led war in Iraq have raised several doubts about the efficacy of the UN in preserving the sovereignty of its member-states while maintaining international peace and security. This paper attempts to focus on the recent Iraq crisis. It analyses the close involvement of the UN in Iraq for over a decade beginning from the 1990 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Many Security Council resolutions became the basis of the deep entrenchment of the UN in the political, economic and security issues of Iraq. The present crisis in Iraq is a reflection of the enormous potential and capability of the UN to engage itself in resolving a conflict and the limitations of that exercise. The UN, while charting a unique journey in Iraq through Resolutions 660 to 1511, has essentially proved its significance in the face of increasing American attempts to impose a unilateral world order.
Ballistic Missile Defence: Likely Meaningful Completion or Irrational Indulgence? (PDF)
P.K. Ghosh
The demand for an infallible missile and homeland defence against anticipatory threats from adversarial state actors as well as amorphous non-state actors has become accentuated in the US in the post-9/11 era. In consonance, the importance of anti-missile defence shield has grown in primacy and has witnessed a changing orientation to an amalgamation of an integrated Layered Defence System. However, the two main question on the development of such a system are whether it will reach a meaningful completion and whether such a system will be cost-effectived. The project has been facing considerable opposition both politically (internationally and nationally) and technically. Part of the technical opposition has been instrumental in inducing many changes in the system verification procedures and its likely architectural aspects. Some of the individual components of the system are still far from being deployed but many are nearing completion/are already deployed. Given the current determination of the Bush Administration and the state of testing, a rudimentary, nascent, North Korea-centric GMS may well be in place by 2005-2006. Due to an absence of a formatted comprehensive architecture and variables such as political will in future, cost estimates of the system have swung very widely (US$ 60 billion to US$ 238 billion to US$ 1 trillion!!). But the basic question has always remained — at what price the feeling of security? Especially in a security phobic post-9/11 era.
3rd India-Central Asia Regional Conference (PDF)
Ramakant Dwivedi
The 3rd India-Central Asia Regional Conference was jointly organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi and the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) at Tashkent during November 6-8, 2003. Fifty participants from about 20 countries participated in the Conference. Representatives from organisations like the World Bank (WB), European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also participated. Uzbek Foreign Minister Mr. Sadik Safoev delivered the inaugural address followed by the keynote address by Indian Minister for External Affairs, Mr. Yashwant Sinha. Head of Military Forces Academy of Uzbekistan, Mr. Feruz Usmanov; Uzbek Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Rustam Niyazov; Rector of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Mr. Rustam Kasymov; ambassadors and charge d'affairs from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China, France, Iran, Japan, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States participated in the inaugural session.
Kaliningrad: Russian Enclave Within the European Union (PDF)
Nivedita Das Kundu
The Russian oblast' (meaning 'region' in Russian) of Kaliningrad has gained significance in recent years. It is located where Russia is exposed not just to the forces of European integration but also to globalisation at large. The oblast' also stands out as a special case because of its geographic separation from the rest of Russia. It is cut off from the mainland by three foreign states, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland, which exacerbates Kaliningrad's political, economic, security and psychological challenges. More importantly, in the next few years when Poland and Lithuania accede to the European Union (EU), Kaliningrad will become not just a Russian oblast' outside Russia but also a Russian oblast' geographically within the EU. Its problems will become EU's problems too and EU actions will have a huge impact upon Kaliningrad.
Prem Shankar Jha, The End of Saddam Hussein, History Through the Eyes of the Victims (PDF)
S.K. Bhutani
Events in Iraq in the last decade, especially the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies (the so-called Coalition of the Willing) in 2003, have shaken the basis of the international system which has governed interstate relations since the end of the Second World War in 1945. In the Middle East, the lack of faith in the multilateral institutions set up after that War, has intensified. Bombing of the United Nations office in Baghdad last summer and threats to other international institutions, have forced the closure of the United Nations office and withdrawal of even the Red Cross from Iraq. At this juncture, Mr. Prem Shankar Jha has made a signal contribution by analyzing the events in Iraq, the process of decision-making at the United Nations, and the relentless pressure exerted on the United Nations' machinery by the unilateralist policymakers in Washington. Mr. Jha has intimate knowledge of how the international print and electronic media operate. His analysis of their role before and during the war should, at the least, induce introspection among its practitioners. It is imperative that the issues highlighted by him are debated widely in order to restore integrity of the United Nations and credibility of its approach and decisions.