Global Security
Global Security
Fair Observer's analysis of issues in governance, constitution, law, enforcement, and justice both nationally and internationally.
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360° Analysis / India / Kashmir / military / security / Siachen / Global Security / AsiaDemilitarization of Siachen will not a suitable answer to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. Siachen is in the news again. Having served at the glacier, one is aware of the ground realities. It is being suggested that ‘demilitarization’ of the glacier will act as a catalyst to foster friendly relations between Indian and Pakistan. To be honest, one has not heard of a more convoluted and outlandish logic. Demilitarization of an area implies withdrawal of the opposing military forces from the designated area with an agreement that neither side would undertake any military activity till the resolution of the conflicting territorial claims. Thus, demilitarization...
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360° Analysis / China / Diaoyu / Island / Japan / Senkaku / Global Security / AsiaWith the territorial dispute between China and Japan continuing, both parties start to sense the consequences. The recent flare-up in a long standing territorial dispute between China, the world’s second-largest economy, and Japan, its third largest, appears to be cooling slightly, but it is far from resolved. The impact on both economies from violent anti-Japanese protests over disputed islands in the East China Sea is likely to persist at least through next year. If it lasts longer, it could drag down global growth. The only thing that appears certain is that neither side is likely to back down from the latest round of tensions over the islands, called the Senkaku in...
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360° Analysis / China / Japan / Piracy / Senkaku / Taiwan / Global Security / AsiaBy Eric LoweEven as the dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands persists, the conflict puts under spotlight the historical roots of the difficult relationship between China and Japan. The long and turbulent relationship between China and Japan can best be described as a historical saga. It has stretched for more than 2000 years and is filled with more drama than any other two countries existing today. The saga began with the story of Xu Fu, a magician who told the Qin Emperor he could find the elixir of youth if he was given ships with 4000 boys and girls to sail to a magical island. The Qin Emperor provided the children and ships for the expedition and the group set sail around. 219 BC. The...
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360° Analysis / Army / Democracy / Eisenhower / India / military / Navy / Politics / PSU / Sino-Indian War / TATRA / Global Security / AsiaGiven the mess India’s higher defence management is, the government must take steps to build an abiding civil-military relationship. The Context Much water has flown down the tributaries of mighty Brahmaputra since the fatal night of 19/20 October 1962 when the Sino-Indian war commenced. Yet, it has not washed away the shame of India’s humiliating defeat, caused by “unspeakably incompetent generals and the political leaders that had assigned them the commands for which they were unfit”, if the spate of recently published articles are to be believed. After five decades, one could see similarities in the present scenario. Civil-Military relationship was...
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United States / Europe / 360° Context / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Global Security / Asia / Oceania / Environment & SustainabilityNatural resources are becoming the new powerful key to defining geopolitics and securing economic and strategic interests. Background Global power shifts in the post Cold-War era have characteristically moved away from traditional military rivalries to economic expansion and prowess. The paradigm, in part fuelled by technological advances and the ferocious scale of globalization in recent decades, has highlighted the strategic advantages lent in particular by natural resources. Historically linked to prolonged conflicts and civil wars in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia, natural resources such as hydrocarbons, gold, uranium, diamonds, copper, zinc and rare earth minerals are now...
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360° Analysis / Beijing / China / DPJ / Japan / KMT / LPD / territory / Tokyo / Global Security / AsiaBy Malcolm CookDomestic politics in China, Japan and Taiwan are intensifying the territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands and bolstering China’s relations with Taiwan. For the past six decades, conventional wisdom has correctly deemed the China-Taiwan dispute the most dangerous potential military crisis involving China, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. A Chinese military attack on Taiwan would bring the United States to the defence of its security partner, Taiwan. Japan, as a US ally and neighbour of Taiwan, would contribute as well. The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands bring Japan and China, East Asia’s two largest economies and navies, into direct sovereign dispute. The Senkaku...
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360° Analysis / Chavez / crime / Hugo Chavez / Latin America / presidential elections / Sercurity / Venezuela / Americas / Global SecuritySince taking office in 1998, Chavez has ignored the dramatic rise in violent crime, making security a private good in the socialist republic. In Caracas, Venezuela’s residential neighborhood of Bello Monte, journalists from multiple publications can be found every morning having coffee at the city’s only morgue. In this way, homicide figures are gathered for the city. More accurate numbers are unknown, as the Venezuelan government stopped releasing official crime related statistics to the public in 2005. Becoming South America's Most Dangerous Country Since Hugo Chavez was elected President of Venezuela in 1998, the nation has replaced Colombia as South America’s most...
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Background A frozen inhospitable glacial wasteland in the Himalaya’s eastern Karakoram Range, Siachen is better known as the highest and coldest battlefield in the world. At nearly 20,000 feet above the sea level, the 70-km long glacier lies at the heart of a fierce territorial conquest between India and Pakistan, both of whom have continued to deploy thousands of troops in the icy terrain since 1984. Bordering China to its northeast, the glacier is critically wedged between the divided landmass of Kashmir – a region whose sovereignty has blazed four wars between the two nuclear neighbours and still remains a burning issue even after 60 years since their partition. Defence...
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The Indian government is acting against the interests of the country by surreptitiously agreeing to a deal with Pakistan according to which it will withdraw troops from Siachen Glacier, the command of which gives India immense strategic advantages. India is committing a historical strategic blunder by quietly agreeing to Pakistan’s demand for withdrawing from Saltoro Ridge in Siachen glacier. The Indian public and parliament have been kept in the dark. A backroom deal has been concluded through questionable intermediaries with close ties to Pakistan. Since November 2011, militaries of both India and Pakistan have held several rounds to boost confidence building measures. These...