Emerging Geo-Strategic Milieu of ASEAN and India in Perspective of ‘Act East’ Policy
India has since last many millennia enjoyed close political, cultural, linguistic, spiritual and economic ties with Southeast Asia. Trade between Kingdoms on East coast of India and Southeast Asia flourished for several centuries (Om Prakash, 1998; Tripati, 2017). Rajendra Chola conquered Srivijaya empire in Indonesia, Malaysia and Southern Thailand around 1000 AD (Shankar, 2017). The Kalinga Empire had looked East for trade 2,000 years ago (Patnaik, 2015). South Korea traces historical linkages with India to more than 2 millennia (Ahn, 1989; Lee, 1998). Historical records indicate that Emperor Ashoka sent his representatives to propagate gospel of Buddha to people of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia (Swearer, 1995; Choi, 2008). Read More
Biodefence Strategies and Preparedness Against Bioterrorism
The 9/11 attacks have written a completely new narrative of the emerging forms of conflict. The nature of this asymmetric warfare with faceless non-state actors is completely unpredictable and unanticipated with respect to battlespace, timing, nature of conflict, targets, motivation. This uncertain emerging security environment prompts the counterterrorism agencies all over the world to think more creatively, and the mantra is ―Think like a terrorist‖!
Historically, Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBWs) have been utilized by all civilizations since time immemorial. However, CBW terrorism was limited to few people with easy access to these toxic materials and possessed knowledge to utilize those. This scenario changed in 19th century with exponential growth of modern scientific understanding of Chemistry and Microbiology. Poisonous chemicals and pathogenic microbes became attractive and potent Weapons of Mass Destruction (Zanders). Read More
Education: – the ultimate WMD – weapon of Mass Development BY SANJAY MATKAR
India today is on the cusp of a technological revolution with majority of its citizens easilyand comfortably adapting to evolving technologies, mostly related to the social media. Theunfortunate fact of this phenomenon is that the back-end of almost every modern technology isbeing designed in the advanced Western world and China. It is imperative to mention thetechnical strength of China separately since in India, the general population perceives China as amanufacturer of cheap consumer consumables. But the not so well known fact is the giant stridesthat China has made in the manufacturing sector, as well as in areas of finance and diplomacy; thetools of soft power. Read More
Book Review: Pakistan On The Brink
Ahmed Rashid‘s book ‘Pakistan On The Brink’ focuses on the instability in Afghanistan caused by actors in Pakistan. The initial essay which starts with a story of an operation planned in a base camp in Afghanistan soon takes us to Pakistan. In the following essays, the author takes us to the White House, Kuwait, Kabul and also to a small village in Germany where the most important diplomacy took place between Americans and the Afghan Taliban in utmost secrecy. Rashid‘s book is an amalgamation of nine such informative essays which deal with nine themes or nine facets of a the Afghan problem, roots of which lie in Pakistan. These themes are based on the Afghanistan-Pakistan relations and various powers involved in the region. Read More
