This chapter examines the academic literature on nuclear coercion and crises. To do so, it procee... more This chapter examines the academic literature on nuclear coercion and crises. To do so, it proceeds in three parts. The first section explores the empirical evidence undergirding three schools of thought on nuclear coercion. The second section identifies the factors that scholars report affects the efficacy of nuclear threats. The last section explores the logic of nuclear first use.
Why do political parties in parliamentary systems undertake actions, such as joining a coalition ... more Why do political parties in parliamentary systems undertake actions, such as joining a coalition government, that will entail significant costs for their members in subsequent elections? Recent research points to the incentive structures faced by differentially positioned members of a parliamentary party: unlike backbenchers, MPs who hold a ministerial portfolio can use the prerequisites of executive office to shield themselves from the costs of governance. This article tests the theory of executive particularism by examining the electoral fortunes of government ministers in India. Sitting government ministers are found to outperform other candidates, however, tests of causality fail to demonstrate that holding a ministerial portfolio causes this electoral benefit. Instead, it appears that a candidate’s electoral performance enhances the likelihood of being granted a ministerial portfolio in the first place. This finding raises questions about the generalizability of claims that par...
This special issue of Asia Policy scrutinizes the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership by examining th... more This special issue of Asia Policy scrutinizes the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership by examining the prospects for bilateral cooperation in Asia. Although peacetime foreign policy collaboration between major powers is a rarity, China’s rapid rise in the international system appears to have forced the United States and India into unusually close consultation on regional security issues. Will this consultation mature into active cooperation? To answer this question, this introductory essay first examines the concept of strategic partnership—a nebulous type of political relationship that has proliferated since the end of the Cold War. It then highlights the obstacles to peacetime cooperation between major powers in other regions of the world. Following this, attention turns to the articles in this special issue, which examine the history of Indo-U.S. cooperation in various subregions of Asia. Collectively, these articles challenge misperceptions and misunderstandings of each country’s po...
After a decade and a half of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. policymak... more After a decade and a half of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. policymakers want to change their approach to COIN by providing aid and advice to local governments rather than directly intervening with U.S. forces. Both this strategy and U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine in general, however, do not acknowledge the difficulty of convincing clients to follow U.S. COIN prescriptions. The historical record suggests that, despite a shared aim of defeating an insurgency, the United States and its local partners have had significantly different goals, priorities, and interests with respect to the conduct of their counterinsurgency campaigns. Consequently, a key focus of attention in any future counterinsurgency assistance effort should be on shaping the client state's strategy and behavior. Although it is tempting to think that providing significant amounts of aid will generate the leverage necessary to affect a client's behavior and policies, the U.S. experie...
... Page 13. 33. Rebecca Johnson, Nicola Butler and Stephen Pullinger, Worse Than Irrelevant? Bri... more ... Page 13. 33. Rebecca Johnson, Nicola Butler and Stephen Pullinger, Worse Than Irrelevant? British Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century (London: Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, 2006), 10. 34. ... 4 (July 2006), 640-646. 36. Colin Brown, Blix vs. ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 14799850902886476, May 28, 2009
... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Marit... more ... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval ...Manjeet S. Pardesi, Deducing India's Grand Strategy of Regional Hegemony from Historical and ... Amit Baruah, India has Legitimate Interests in South East Asia: George Yeo, The ...
India’s role in the broader Asia-Pacific region is not one that is widely recognized—even by some... more India’s role in the broader Asia-Pacific region is not one that is widely recognized—even by some regional specialists. For example, in a recent academic text on the politics of the region, India merits only a few passing references and is described merely as a country that ‘interacts with the Asia-Pacific in various ways’.1 Although it would be a significant mistake to overlook or discount the role that India is playing in this region, such omissions are somewhat understandable. From a geographic standpoint, India does not border the Pacific Ocean and it is only through its far-flung Nicobar and Andaman island territories that it is even adjacent to the key maritime choke points linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For those who narrowly conceive of East Asia stretching in an arc from Myanmar to Japan on the basis of race or a mythical quasi- Confucian culture, India would not appear to ‘belong’. In terms of security linkages, India has traditionally had little involvement with either of the two key security issues in the region: the China–Taiwan dispute and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (North Korea) quest for nuclear weapons. Finally, from an economic standpoint, at present India’s economic linkages with the region do not approach the depth or breadth that the nations of East Asia and Australasia have among themselves. While all of these factors may appear to be good reasons for not considering India’s role in the region, to do so would be a mistake. A steadily expanding economy, paired with a growing partnership with key regional actors, is positioning India to have a dynamic impact on the emerging economic and security architecture of the Asia- Pacific.
In response to the perceived inability of the Indian military to leverage its conventional superi... more In response to the perceived inability of the Indian military to leverage its conventional superiority to end Pakistan's "proxy war" in Kashmir, the Indian Army announced a new offensive doctrine in 2004 intended to allow it to mobilize quickly and undertake limited retaliatory attacks on its neighbor, without crossing Pakistan's nuclear threshold. This Cold Start doctrine marks a break with the fundamentally defensive military doctrines that India has employed since gaining independence in 1947. Requiring combined arms operating jointly with the Indian Air Force, Cold Start represents a significant advance in India's conventional military capabilities. Yet, despite the Indian Army's intentions, it risks provoking or escalating a crisis on the subcontinent that could breach the nuclear threshold. Recent military exercises and associated organizational changes indicate that although the Indian Army has made progress toward developing an operational Cold ...
Page 1. _ ._. INSURGENTS THE WARRIORS OF CONTEMPORARY COMBAT TERRORISTS Richard H. Shultz Jr. &am... more Page 1. _ ._. INSURGENTS THE WARRIORS OF CONTEMPORARY COMBAT TERRORISTS Richard H. Shultz Jr. & Andrea J. Dew AND MILITIAS Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. "An unflinchingly thorough assessment of the unconventional ...
... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Marit... more ... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval ...Manjeet S. Pardesi, Deducing India's Grand Strategy of Regional Hegemony from Historical and ... Amit Baruah, India has Legitimate Interests in South East Asia: George Yeo, The ...
This chapter examines the academic literature on nuclear coercion and crises. To do so, it procee... more This chapter examines the academic literature on nuclear coercion and crises. To do so, it proceeds in three parts. The first section explores the empirical evidence undergirding three schools of thought on nuclear coercion. The second section identifies the factors that scholars report affects the efficacy of nuclear threats. The last section explores the logic of nuclear first use.
Why do political parties in parliamentary systems undertake actions, such as joining a coalition ... more Why do political parties in parliamentary systems undertake actions, such as joining a coalition government, that will entail significant costs for their members in subsequent elections? Recent research points to the incentive structures faced by differentially positioned members of a parliamentary party: unlike backbenchers, MPs who hold a ministerial portfolio can use the prerequisites of executive office to shield themselves from the costs of governance. This article tests the theory of executive particularism by examining the electoral fortunes of government ministers in India. Sitting government ministers are found to outperform other candidates, however, tests of causality fail to demonstrate that holding a ministerial portfolio causes this electoral benefit. Instead, it appears that a candidate’s electoral performance enhances the likelihood of being granted a ministerial portfolio in the first place. This finding raises questions about the generalizability of claims that par...
This special issue of Asia Policy scrutinizes the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership by examining th... more This special issue of Asia Policy scrutinizes the Indo-U.S. strategic partnership by examining the prospects for bilateral cooperation in Asia. Although peacetime foreign policy collaboration between major powers is a rarity, China’s rapid rise in the international system appears to have forced the United States and India into unusually close consultation on regional security issues. Will this consultation mature into active cooperation? To answer this question, this introductory essay first examines the concept of strategic partnership—a nebulous type of political relationship that has proliferated since the end of the Cold War. It then highlights the obstacles to peacetime cooperation between major powers in other regions of the world. Following this, attention turns to the articles in this special issue, which examine the history of Indo-U.S. cooperation in various subregions of Asia. Collectively, these articles challenge misperceptions and misunderstandings of each country’s po...
After a decade and a half of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. policymak... more After a decade and a half of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. policymakers want to change their approach to COIN by providing aid and advice to local governments rather than directly intervening with U.S. forces. Both this strategy and U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine in general, however, do not acknowledge the difficulty of convincing clients to follow U.S. COIN prescriptions. The historical record suggests that, despite a shared aim of defeating an insurgency, the United States and its local partners have had significantly different goals, priorities, and interests with respect to the conduct of their counterinsurgency campaigns. Consequently, a key focus of attention in any future counterinsurgency assistance effort should be on shaping the client state's strategy and behavior. Although it is tempting to think that providing significant amounts of aid will generate the leverage necessary to affect a client's behavior and policies, the U.S. experie...
... Page 13. 33. Rebecca Johnson, Nicola Butler and Stephen Pullinger, Worse Than Irrelevant? Bri... more ... Page 13. 33. Rebecca Johnson, Nicola Butler and Stephen Pullinger, Worse Than Irrelevant? British Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century (London: Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, 2006), 10. 34. ... 4 (July 2006), 640-646. 36. Colin Brown, Blix vs. ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 14799850902886476, May 28, 2009
... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Marit... more ... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval ...Manjeet S. Pardesi, Deducing India's Grand Strategy of Regional Hegemony from Historical and ... Amit Baruah, India has Legitimate Interests in South East Asia: George Yeo, The ...
India’s role in the broader Asia-Pacific region is not one that is widely recognized—even by some... more India’s role in the broader Asia-Pacific region is not one that is widely recognized—even by some regional specialists. For example, in a recent academic text on the politics of the region, India merits only a few passing references and is described merely as a country that ‘interacts with the Asia-Pacific in various ways’.1 Although it would be a significant mistake to overlook or discount the role that India is playing in this region, such omissions are somewhat understandable. From a geographic standpoint, India does not border the Pacific Ocean and it is only through its far-flung Nicobar and Andaman island territories that it is even adjacent to the key maritime choke points linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For those who narrowly conceive of East Asia stretching in an arc from Myanmar to Japan on the basis of race or a mythical quasi- Confucian culture, India would not appear to ‘belong’. In terms of security linkages, India has traditionally had little involvement with either of the two key security issues in the region: the China–Taiwan dispute and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (North Korea) quest for nuclear weapons. Finally, from an economic standpoint, at present India’s economic linkages with the region do not approach the depth or breadth that the nations of East Asia and Australasia have among themselves. While all of these factors may appear to be good reasons for not considering India’s role in the region, to do so would be a mistake. A steadily expanding economy, paired with a growing partnership with key regional actors, is positioning India to have a dynamic impact on the emerging economic and security architecture of the Asia- Pacific.
In response to the perceived inability of the Indian military to leverage its conventional superi... more In response to the perceived inability of the Indian military to leverage its conventional superiority to end Pakistan's "proxy war" in Kashmir, the Indian Army announced a new offensive doctrine in 2004 intended to allow it to mobilize quickly and undertake limited retaliatory attacks on its neighbor, without crossing Pakistan's nuclear threshold. This Cold Start doctrine marks a break with the fundamentally defensive military doctrines that India has employed since gaining independence in 1947. Requiring combined arms operating jointly with the Indian Air Force, Cold Start represents a significant advance in India's conventional military capabilities. Yet, despite the Indian Army's intentions, it risks provoking or escalating a crisis on the subcontinent that could breach the nuclear threshold. Recent military exercises and associated organizational changes indicate that although the Indian Army has made progress toward developing an operational Cold ...
Page 1. _ ._. INSURGENTS THE WARRIORS OF CONTEMPORARY COMBAT TERRORISTS Richard H. Shultz Jr. &am... more Page 1. _ ._. INSURGENTS THE WARRIORS OF CONTEMPORARY COMBAT TERRORISTS Richard H. Shultz Jr. & Andrea J. Dew AND MILITIAS Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. "An unflinchingly thorough assessment of the unconventional ...
... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Marit... more ... Author's correspondence with Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval ...Manjeet S. Pardesi, Deducing India's Grand Strategy of Regional Hegemony from Historical and ... Amit Baruah, India has Legitimate Interests in South East Asia: George Yeo, The ...
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