South Asia's complex geopolitical realities present a number of challenges to regional countries and dominate the discourse. Likewise, there are complex geostrategic issues which inhibit regional cooperation and add to trust-deficit. This 2008 volume captures the perspectives of experts and scholars on South Asia who offer insights of the region.
Pentagon's South Asia Defence and Strategic Yearbook is now in its fourth year of publication. It covers relevant issues of defence and security, military affairs and military technology written by experts and academicians themselves. These issues are important for defence services, foreign ministers and security experts spread among defence units, strategic think-tanks, government organisations / public sector units, national and international technology manufacturers and diplomats and bureaucrats. The book has been extremely well received and its circulation has grown tremendously in the last three years. It has been regularly reviewed in the USI Journal and other reputed journals and magazines. As The Book Review has commented: "In comparison to the other yearbooks, this book stands out due to the well documented opinion peices by the experienced people from the armed forces, think tanks and academics. It creats a space for dialogue on important topics..."
The third edition of the South Asia Defence and Strategic Year Book offers an analysis of defence, economic and social issues that impact regional security in South Asia. The wide ranging perspectives give a deep insight into the factors and linkages that impact the emerging international relations of the region, with particular emphasis on India which is an economic, military and political powerhouse with an expanding footprint in the World. South Asia is a region that is rife with geopolitics. By virtue of its population and location, it is a reflection of the challenges of the interconnected, integrated and interdependent world. Its security environment is relatively unsettled and is a reason for both hope and despair. Its issues, which have international as well as regional relevance, have their own dynamics and trends that need a deeper understanding. The Year Book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the security environment in the region by focusing on an in-depth analysis of military capabilities and strategic imperatives obtaining in the region. Apart from outlining the general security environment, detailed military balance, trends in weapon systems and technology, defence industry, missile and nuclear capabilities and terrorism issues have been highlighted. Growing strategic linkages and independence of nation states make it imperative to consider the region as a whole to incorporate a holistic approach. The Year Book also contains studies on China and other Southeast Asian nations to that effect. Thus the underlying theme of this publication is to enable 'understanding through information'. While the threat of terrorism remains at the forefront of most analyses, the move towards popular and democratically elected governments in South Asia has not eclipsed the existing challenges to governance in all the countries of the region. Poverty and economic disparities, coupled with ethic and social divisions, have created political and social fault lines that have been exploited by non-state actors with their own agendas. Thus we hope to promote peace through understanding by delineating the issues of concern in the region.
This book assesses India’s role as a major power in the Indian Ocean. Many see the Indian Ocean as naturally falling within India’s sphere of influence but, as this book demonstrates, India has a long way to go before it could achieve regional dominance. The book outlines the development of Indian thinking on its role in the Indian Ocean and examines India’s strategic relationships in the region, including with maritime South Asia, the Indian Ocean islands, East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. The book then discusses India’s ambivalent relationship with the United States and explores its attitude towards China’s growing power in the Indian Ocean. It concludes by discussing the region’s evolving strategic order – does India have what it takes to become the leading power in the region?
This important report was issued by the Department of Defense in June 2019. The Indo-Pacific is the Department of Defense's priority theater. The United States is a Pacific nation; we are linked to our Indo-Pacific neighbors through unbreakable bonds of shared history, culture, commerce, and values. We have an enduring commitment to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules, norms, and principles of fair competition. The continuity of our shared strategic vision is uninterrupted despite an increasingly complex security environment. Inter-state strategic competition, defined by geopolitical rivalry between free and repressive world order visions, is the primary concern for U.S. national security. In particular, the People's Republic of China, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, seeks to reorder the region to its advantage by leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce other nations. In contrast, the Department of Defense supports choices that promote long-term peace and prosperity for all in the Indo-Pacific. We will not accept policies or actions that threaten or undermine the rules-based international order - an order that benefits all nations. We are committed to defending and enhancing these shared values.China's economic, political, and military rise is one of the defining elements of the 21st century. Today, the Indo-Pacific increasingly is confronted with a more confident and assertive China that is willing to accept friction in the pursuit of a more expansive set of political, economic, and security interests. Perhaps no country has benefited more from the free and open regional and international system than China, which has witnessed the rise of hundreds of millions from poverty to growing prosperity and security. Yet while the Chinese people aspire to free markets, justice, and the rule of law, the People's Republic of China (PRC), under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), undermines the international system from within by exploiting its benefits while simultaneously eroding the values and principles of the rules-based order.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. 1. Introduction * 1.1. America's Historic Ties to the Indo-Pacific * 1.2. Vision and Principles for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific * 2. Indo-Pacific Strategic Landscape: Trends and Challenges * 2.1. The People's Republic of China as a Revisionist Power * 2.2. Russia as a Revitalized Malign Actor * 2.3. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a Rogue State * 2.4. Prevalence of Transnational Challenges * 3. U.S. National Interests and Defense Strategy * 3.1. U.S. National Interests * 3.2. U.S. National Defense Strategy * 4. Sustaining U.S. Influence to Achieve Regional Objectives * 4.1. Line of Effort 1: Preparedness * 4.2. Line of Effort 2: Partnerships * 4.3. Line of Effort 3: Promoting a Networked Region * Conclusion
