Photo Credit: Carnegie Endowment By Ian Churchill, Columnist On February 20, 2016, four militants attacked an Indian army parliamentary convoy transiting Pampore, a city in Indian-administered Kashmir. After the initial assault, the attackers occupied a nearby government facility, using automatic weapons and grenades to keep the Indian army at bay during a protracted two-day siege … Continue reading With Deadly Pampore Attack, Lashkar-e-Taiba Responds to Islamic State Critique
Category: South & Central Asia
Looking Outward: Indian Maritime Power and Energy Security
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons By Trisha Ray, Columnist From February 4-8, 2016, the Indian port of Vishakhapatnam was overflowing. Glistening under the sunlight, a dizzying array of warships sailed down the harbor. China’s PLAN Lizhou, the American USS Antietam, and India’s new destroyer, INS Kolkata, joined the ships of the 50 participating countries in one … Continue reading Looking Outward: Indian Maritime Power and Energy Security
Counterinsurgency and Development in FATA: Lessons from US Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan
Photo: Pakistani soldiers (http://images.geo.tv/updates_pics/Zarb-e-Azb-northwaziristan_6-17-2014_151059_l.jpg) By: Hijab Shah, Columnist The Pakistani armed forces claim to have entered the decisive phase in their counterinsurgency operations against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).[1] If Operation Zarb-e-Azb is indeed as close to success as the military says, a window of opportunity has opened … Continue reading Counterinsurgency and Development in FATA: Lessons from US Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan
The Radicalization of South Asian Islam: Saudi Money and the Spread of Wahhabism
Shah Ahmad Shafi, one of the founders of Hefazat-e-Islam. Wikimedia Commons By Akhilesh Pillalamarri, Columnist A new school of Islam from Saudi Arabia is transforming South Asia’s religious landscape. Wahhabism, a fundamental Sunni school of Islam originating in Saudi Arabia, entered South Asia in the late 1970s. With public and private Saudi funding, Wahhabism has … Continue reading The Radicalization of South Asian Islam: Saudi Money and the Spread of Wahhabism
Pakistan’s Abandonment Narrative: Reading Between the Lines
President Bush with General Pervez Musharraf, Wikimedia Commons By Hijab Shah, Columnist Pakistani media was recently abuzz with various political and military leaders condemning a Pentagon report which claimed Pakistan utilizes “proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military.”[1] From an outpouring of op-ed articles to … Continue reading Pakistan’s Abandonment Narrative: Reading Between the Lines
The Looming Threat in South Asia: Nuclear Postures of India and Pakistan
Wikimedia Commons By Maciej Lempke, Columnist When assessing nuclear weapon risks, the international community is currently preoccupied with Iranian development – this week’s negotiations in Oman are the latest effort to quell their ambitions – and North Korean provocation.[1] Although Tehran and Pyongyang are indeed a cause for concern, it is the current nuclear postures … Continue reading The Looming Threat in South Asia: Nuclear Postures of India and Pakistan
Pakistan, the United States, and the Confidence Deficit
Photo by the Department of Defense/Flickr | This article was featured in GSSR Vol. 1 Issue 1 | By Aled Lloyd Owen | A pessimistic analysis of recent trends in the U.S.–Pakistan relationship at the outset of 2012 might have tended to see it as being in a state of terminal decline: Pakistan’s Federally Administered … Continue reading Pakistan, the United States, and the Confidence Deficit
Dirty Politics: Ethnic Cleansing and U.S. Policy in Myanmar
This article was featured in GSSR Vol. 1 Issue 3. By Sloane Speakman Since its 2010 transition to a nominally civilian government, Myanmar has made significant progress toward real, democratic reform.[1] The government has initiated a series of political and economic reforms leading to a substantial opening of the long-isolated country, including releasing hundreds of political … Continue reading Dirty Politics: Ethnic Cleansing and U.S. Policy in Myanmar