Publication

Expectations are high in Japan, both in the general public and amongst the elite, after Democrat Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the American Presidency. Japan was clearly uncomfortable with Republican Bush administration’s pursuit of a unilateralist foreign policy as against Obama’s more pronounced multilateral approach. According to Professor Kenji Takita of Chuo University, multilateralism is closely associated with smart power and therefore Obama’s shift towards multilateralism is likely to undo some of the damage that the Bush administration’s unilateralism has done to American standing.

• Rajaram Panda |
• January 29, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Considering the volume of defence expenditure planned in the 11th Five Year Plan and in the future, it is certainly befitting for each recipient service to debate methods and procedures that offset this expenditure and contribute towards the economic and technological development of the country.

• S. Samaddar |
• January 2009 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

There seems to be a consensus worldwide among the members of the strategic and academic community that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has been the greatest danger… Continue reading Global Security Environment: Challenges and Prospects

• Arvind Kumar |
• January-March 2009 |
• CBW Magazine

Of the triad of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons that have been the focus of attention followed by chemical weapons. But it must be remembered that there is an… Continue reading The Emerging Biological Weapons Threat and Proliferation

• Sudha Raman |
• January-March 2009 |
• CBW Magazine

Boeing has successfully implemented offset programmes in over 35 countries completing over $29 billion in offset commitments and we are currently engaged in executing over 45 active programmes valued at over $14 billion involving 18 countries. Therefore, we have some relevant experience in this area.

• Vivek Lall |
• January 2009 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

Since Independence, as a policy, Defence R&D in India had been reserved for the state sector with the DRDO having been established with the mandate to conduct research into Defence areas. Defence Public Sector Undertaking units (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factories (OFs) were set up with the twin objectives of:

• J.D. Patil , Mukesh Bhargava |
• January 2009 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

Among the many monikers that Barack Obama has collected as he enters office is that of being the first "Tech President". In the days since his victory, Obama has already brought technology into his Presidency in a big way, starting with the launch of an online site, change.gov, where people could apply for jobs in his Administration and give suggestions on the agenda of his Administration. Other changes include the transformation of the traditional weekly radio address to a video address which can be viewed over video site Youtube, and a complete re-design of the White House website.

• Cherian Samuel |
• January 23, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

In a recent poll for the newspaper Le Parisien, 55 per cent of the French public expressed their disagreement with the presence of the French military in Afghanistan. A number of political and strategic mistakes contributed to this difficult situation being faced by Sarkozy’s government regarding the war in Afghanistan. The situation is also exacerbated by the fact that 10 soldiers of the 8th RPIMA lost their lives in the Uzbin sector in late August after a brilliantly orchestrated ambush by elements of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami which shocked the country.

• Guillem Monsonis |
• January 22, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, arrived in India on his two-day visit on 13 January, barely a month and a half after the carnage in Mumbai. His visit was controversial for what he said during the visit and it was made worse by his article that appeared in The Guardian on the last day of his visit. It even provoked the normally restrained Ministry of External Affairs to comment that it could do without Miliband’s “unsolicited advice” and that his views were only “evolving”.

• Thomas Mathew |
• January 22, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Every year as India approaches the Budget session of Parliament, there are debates in various forums about the adequacy of Budget allocation to meet the modernization plan of the Services considering the threat perceptions/scenario. Due to the economic slowdown world-wide which is likely to affect the revenue collection of the national exchequer this year, the Government may face difficulty in meeting the increased demand from the Defence Forces. Further, we should not forget that electoral compulsions are also likely to play an important role in the coming budget.

• Arvind Kadyan |
• January 21, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments