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Asian Defence Review
2008-09
Growing economies and emerging market forces, presence of vital energy and natural resources and close proximity to sea lanes of communication juxtaposed with a volatile security environment, ethnic strife and pockets of uneven growth are factors having a defining impact on the dynamics of the ongoing power play for politico-economic dominance on the world stage. The past two decades, witnessing the collapse of the Soviet Union with resources-rich breakaway republics struggling for a foothold, growth of Islamic fanaticism and its association with terrorism and low intensity conflict, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, piracy on the high seas and emergence of arch-rivals India and Pakistan as nuclear powers and being at the brink of war, have been tumultuous for Asia. Instability and socio-economic disparity and the efforts of non-state players to impose their often misconceived ideals on society is the root of internal conflict which now tends to have a spillover effect across international borders. This happens to be quite true in the India scenario where externally sponsored terrorism and the spread of Naxalism have serious implications for internal security, stability and sustained economic growth. Tackling such exigencies is no doubt a drain on national resources and also adversely affects national image and consequentially economic interface with other countries. The challenge thus is to control internal conflicts, check the role of non-state players, reduce the possibility of armed conflict between nation states and create an environment of socio-economic stability, so that comprehensive national development is not hampered by adverse developments. To devise methodologies and strategies for achieving these goals requires a broad and objective insight to issues affecting the security and economic developments concerning the region. It is these that the book attempts to project. The book is projected as a resources base for the professional and the general reader that aims to fill a critical information and knowledge gap in the current strategic literature dealing with military strategy, defence politics and trends in military capabilities that impact countries in Asia. In their essays, research fellows at CAPS examine various issues ranging from economy and defence allocations to nuclear doctrines and technological advances. They cover some important areas that affect Asian countries with a focus on India, China and Pakistan. The chapter on trends in defence expenditure appears to be a good source on the numerical levels of armed forces and military spending in Asia as well as the introduction of various weapons systems through the decades and also the impact that the acquisitions have had on economies. Another paper is devoted to Pakistan’s internal situation, the role of the Army and the fallout of its strategies in the war against terror and the economic and military aid it has received from the US. The author here is critical of Pakistan’s future that is imperiled by militant groups and the military’s selective approach in tackling terrorist groups that serve its interests against India. Chinese nuclear capability and its implications for India, electronic warfare and air defence are other topics covered in the book.
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IN Asia lies the
geopolitical epicenter of the emerging new world order. Four of the
five economies, and consequently military powers, around which the
world would revolve, are located on land mass making up the largest
continent.