Recent Updates

2003: Jihadi Terrorism in S. E. Asia
International Affairs | Terrorism Jan 17, 2004

2003: Jihadi Terrorism in S. E. Asia

Twelve innocent civilians, 11 of them Indonesian nationals, were killed in an explosion on August 5, 2003, in the US-franchised JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. The Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was suspected. If the JI is ultimately established to have been responsible, it would be the ...

PWG Naxalites: Set-back in the bastion, expansion elsewhere
Domestic Politics and Governance | Defence and Security | State Level Politics | Internal Security Jan 17, 2004

PWG Naxalites: Set-back in the bastion, expansion elsewhere

The striking capability and influence of the People¿s War Group (PWG) Naxalites¿ has steadily been declining in their flagship North Telengana Special Zone (NTSZ) area since the past few years. The death of some experienced, capable and important leaders of the NTSZ, especially in the ...

The King takes the cakewalk
International Affairs | Neighbourhood Jan 14, 2004

The King takes the cakewalk

King Gyanedra¿s decision to give audience to the various political parties in early January 2004 preferred the ray of hope that the continuing political deadlock in Nepal might end soon.

Sri Lanka 2003: The Continuing Deadlock
International Affairs | Neighbourhood Jan 12, 2004

Sri Lanka 2003: The Continuing Deadlock

The continuing deadlock in the peace process and in the political equation between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe due to their failure to reach an accord on the ground rules for the smooth functioning of the co-habitation Government marked the political landscape ...

Indian diplomacy coming of age?
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Indian Foreign Policy | Economic Diplomacy Jan 12, 2004

Indian diplomacy coming of age?

India may well be considered a middle power aspiring to be a great power of global importance. India¿s ruling class has successfully shrugged off its initial aversion to perceive power as a category having a place of its own outside the ideological fortress of morality.

From Islamabad and After
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Indian Foreign Policy Jan 07, 2004

From Islamabad and After

By delineating bilateral relations from the larger SAARC format, and at the same time taking them up after the Islamabad summit had addressed major agendas, India and Pakistan have done well for themselves and for the region ¿ without continuing to hold one the hostage ...

Pakistan's charm offensive
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Terrorism Jan 07, 2004

Pakistan's charm offensive

It would not be fair to term Syed Salahuddin's statements on Kashmir as the official Pakistan policy. But the fact that Salahuddin has been making, rather freely, statements on Kashmir, which seem to be contrary to the stance taken by Islamabad-at least for the time ...

Bin Laden's new Year's Message
International Affairs | US Foreign Policy | Terrorism Jan 05, 2004

Bin Laden's new Year's Message

An audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden was aired on the Arabic network Al-Jazeera on January 3,2004. This is the third message exclusively relating to Iraq attributed to him since before the US-led invasion of Iraq by the coalition forces. The first, called a special ...

The Tsunami and After
Climate, Food and Environment | Climate Change Jan 04, 2004

The Tsunami and After

According to the Tsunami Laboratory at Novosibirsk in Siberia, there were 796 tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean region during the last century. Of these, only 117 caused human casualties and property damage. In the case of a majority of them, the human casualties and the ...

Why Feel Good Is Just Not Enough
Indian Economy Jan 03, 2004

Why Feel Good Is Just Not Enough

On December 20, 2003, a landmark in the history of modern India was achieved. The nation's forex reserves for the very first time crossed the $ 100 billion mark, to be precise clocked 100.048 billion. The high, coming just after a decade of reforms, remember ...

China's Terror List and its Implications
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | China Foreign Policy | Terrorism | Multilateralism Jan 03, 2004

China's Terror List and its Implications

Since 9/11, both China and the US have one concern in common - the threat of 'Islamic' terrorism. On December 15 2003, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued a list of four terrorist organisations and eleven terrorists that pose a threat to China's security.

2004 : State of Jihadi Terrorism
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Terrorism Jan 02, 2004

2004 : State of Jihadi Terrorism

There has been no credible evidence so far of any mastermind having orchestrated the various serious acts of jihadi terrorism reported during 2003, whether from Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq or Turkey. The available evidence indicates that all these incidents were planned ...

Musharraf's Frankensteins Come Home To Haunt Him
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Terrorism Dec 30, 2003

Musharraf's Frankensteins Come Home To Haunt Him

The two assassination attempts in quick succession on Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the President of an Islamic state, who is a key ally of the United States in the war in Afghanistan, came at a time when the US-led coalition forces in Iraq were rejoicing over the ...

A Mirage or a  Reality ?
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | US Foreign Policy | Terrorism Dec 30, 2003

A Mirage or a Reality ?

The closing months of the year 2003 saw a change in the language of the discourse emanating from the Pakistani establishment in general and its military dictator Gen.Pervez Musharraf in particular

Flux and Flexibility
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Indian Foreign Policy | Multilateralism Dec 29, 2003

Flux and Flexibility

With the SAARC summit only days away, the focus should be as much on re-positioning India, both in the regional and emerging global context, as on terrorism and security. Prime Minister Vajpayee set the mood a fortnight ago by referring to a 'common currency' for, ...

Oil, Disinvestment & Reforms
Energy | Oil, Gas and Renewables Dec 29, 2003

Oil, Disinvestment & Reforms

Though the imbroglio over the strategic sale of BPCL/HPCL is far from over, the mandarins within the government have come up with yet another proposal to meet the year's disinvestment targets. A booming stock market has inspired the bureaucrats

Iraq Continues To Bleed
International Affairs | US Foreign Policy | Terrorism Dec 29, 2003

Iraq Continues To Bleed

Police and Army are perceived to be low . The mercenaries of the Iraqi members of the governing council such as Ahmed Chalabi are better paid. The staff of the Iraqi Police and Army were till recently not entitled to the war hazard allowance. A ...

To Islamabad and After
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Terrorism Dec 23, 2003

To Islamabad and After

Call it a game of good-cop-and-bad-cop being played out by President Musharaff and Prime Minister Jamali, yet Pakistan¿s willingness to ¿keep aside¿ the UN resolution on plebiscite in Kashmir should come as a welcome turn, if not relief, for India, and all those hoping for ...

Turkey- The New Target Of Pan-Islamic Jihadi Terrorism?
International Affairs | Terrorism Dec 23, 2003

Turkey- The New Target Of Pan-Islamic Jihadi Terrorism?

November 2003 was a black month for Turkey, which has been grappling with problems arising out of its geo-strategic location in the Middle East and its Islamic identity and its close proximity to the Western world. Even before the country could recover from the terrorist ...

Left Wing Extremism in India
Domestic Politics and Governance | Defence and Security | State Level Politics | Internal Security Dec 18, 2003

Left Wing Extremism in India

Left-wing extremists, popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites1 in India--have been gaining in strength and influence since some time. Today, the menace of Left-wing extremism is the single internal security threat that affects the largest number of States in India.

A New Agenda, A New Forum?
International Affairs | US Foreign Policy | Economics and Finance | International Financial Institutions Dec 15, 2003

A New Agenda, A New Forum?

The coincidence is striking. The US ¿ban¿ on ¿non-participants¿ in the ¿international coalition¿ to participate in $ 18-billions worth of ¿works contract¿ for Iraq¿s reconstruction, and also the follow-up talks on the deadlocked WTO negotiations at Cancun. Between them, the two may have begun designing ...

After Saddam's Capture, What?
International Affairs | US Foreign Policy Dec 15, 2003

After Saddam's Capture, What?

What impact the capture of Saddam Hussein by the US troops on the night of December 13,2003, would have on the ground situation in Iraq? Would it lead to a petering out of the resistance movement and the acts of terrorism against the coalition troops, ...

Jihadi Terrorism in Indonesia
International Affairs | Terrorism Dec 12, 2003

Jihadi Terrorism in Indonesia

As I was driven into the heart of Jakarta from its international airport, I could hardly believe I was in the capital of a Muslim country, with the world's largest Muslim population. I noticed very few external signs of the Islamic character of the country ...

The Trans -Atlantic Defence Dilemma
International Affairs | Defence and Security | US Foreign Policy | United Nations | Multilateralism Dec 11, 2003

The Trans -Atlantic Defence Dilemma

More than ever before, the United States needs the continued support of the European Union (EU) in defence and security matters, especially in the war against terrorism. A draft security strategy prepared in June 2003 by Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for the Common ...

Kashmir in Andorra's box
International Affairs | Neighbourhood | Domestic Politics and Governance | National Politics | Internal Security Dec 10, 2003

Kashmir in Andorra's box

Located between France and Spain in southwestern Europe is a place called Andorra; 468 kilometres in all, 2.5 times the size of Washington DC with a population of 69,150, predominantly Roman Catholics, 43 per cent of whom are Spanish and rest either Andorrans, French or ...

Contributors

Siranush Melikyan

Siranush Melikyan

Siranush Melikyan is an Assistant Professor at the Yerevan State University. ...

Read More + Tigran Yepremyan

Tigran Yepremyan

Tigran Yepremyan is the Dean of the Faculty of International Relations and an Associate Professor of World History and IR at the Yerevan State University, Armenia. ...

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