Troubling Tehran listed in Iran Review Website

My co-ed book (with Rajaram Nagappa) Troubling Tehran: Reflections on Geopolitics listed on the Iran Review Website.

 

The leading website studying Iranian developments (Iran Review) has listed ISSSP’s book Troubling Tehran: Reflections on Geopolitics. The book joins a select list of publications that the website has shortlisted based on their focus on Iran. 

What is the best approach for resolving differences over the Iranian nuclear programme and preventing a conflict? How would a conflict possibly unravel given Iranian military, asymmetric and missile capabilities? What does a military conflict over Iran mean for international order and India in particular? These are some of the questions that the book, Troubling Tehran: Reflections on Geopolitics analyses and seeks answers to.

The book can be bought from Flipkart | Bookadda | Amazon | Amazon India

For more details on the book click here

Share:

Read more

Troubling Tehran - Book Review

Review of my co-edited book, Troubling Tehran: Reflections on Geopolitics in IDSA's Strategic Analysis Vol. 38, No. 4, May 2014, pp. 376-378 by Ms. Aditi Malhotra, Senior Research Fellow, National Institute of Advanced Studies

The ever dynamic nuclear conundrum of Iran has continued to hog the limelight. Numerous suggestions emanating from varied quarters about how to manage the issue have dominated the ongoing international discourse. However, there is no unanimity on how to cope with the current situation and the impending future. 

Surprisingly, in the Indian context, where Iran’s importance is undeniable, the debates have remained limited and incomprehensive. Troubling Tehran is a book that seeks to address this lacuna and trigger an Indian cogitation on Iran and the prognosis.

For the complete book review click here

The book can be bought from Flipkart | Bookadda | Amazon | Amazon India

Share:

Read more

Iran and P5+1 Geneva Agreement: A Game Changer?

My article on the Iran P5+1 Joint plan of action and its wider ramifications in The Diplomatist, Vol. 3, Issue 3, March 2014.

The interim agreement signed on November 24, 2013 at Geneva by Iran and the P5+1 and its subsequent operationalisation (January 20, 2014) highlights a remarkable shift the situation surrounding Iran has undergone over the past few months. The agreement is being perceived as a major departure in American policy towards Iran and the region in general. However, close observers would be quick in pointing out that such a shift has been some time in the making. The US move to enter into a dialogue with Tehran has largely been the result of a desire to buy more time to address the concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear programme through verification and roll back any probable progress Iran has made in building a nuclear weapon.

The deal also underscores the US’s endeavour to balance its efforts to push back Tehran’s regional rise on one hand,and build bridges of some kind after a hiatus of over three decades on the other. Taking a bird’s eye-view of the overall geo-political scenario, the move stems from the growing dissonance between US and its allies (Saudi Arabia and Israel) on major issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict, Syrian civil war and chemical weapons issue, as well as the handling of the Arab Spring aftermath.

For the complete article (in PDF) click here

Share:

Read more

Verification and Nuclear Weapons Free World

Spoke at the IDSA, New Delhi on April 2, 2014 on "Verifying a Nuclear Weapons Free World"

I spoke at the conference on the topic “Verifying a Nuclear Weapons Free World: Political and Technical Components.” 
 
About the Conference

The conference was organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the Indian Pugwash Society, on April 2-3, 2014.

For the agenda of the conference click here

Abstract of the Talk

A world free of nuclear weapons would be a desirable end-objective. However, there are apprehensions that even if all nuclear weapons are eliminated, such an achievement would be short lived. This presentation seeks to outline the components (political and technical) of such a verification regime which could possibly help in preventing (re)acquisition of nuclear weapons capability. By increasing confidence levels among state parties about compliance by all, verification would in essence sustain a nuclear weapons free world once such a situation is realised.

Video of my talk at the Conference

Share:

Read more

Nuclear Security Summit 2014: The Way Forward

Published in the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, March 21, 2014
http://www.ipcs.org/article/india/nuclear-security-summit-2014-the-way-forward-4351.html

The third edition of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) is being held at The Hague on 24-25 March 2014. Leaders and officials from fifty-four countries and three international organisations (IAEA, INTERPOL and the UN) are expected to assemble for the international nuclear gala. As in the 2010 (Washington DC) and the 2012 (Seoul) avatars of the NSS, the main issues which are likely to be discussed at the Hague 2014 NSS are inter alia nuclear materials security and preventing nuclear terrorism. 

Perusing the commentaries and op-eds leading up to the 2014 edition of the NSS and the communiqués put out after by the earlier editions of the NSS, one gets a sense that mindsets needs to change if the objective of a making the world a safer place is to be realised.

For the complete article click here

Share:

Read more

Is there a debate about Nasr/Hatf-IX within Pakistan?

Published in Generation Why: South Asian Voices, Stimson Center, February 27, 2014

On November 5, 2013 Pakistan flight tested its short range battlefield missile Nasr/Hatf-IX. The test involved successive firing of four missiles (Salvo) from a multi-tube launcher. As compared to the first (April 19, 2011) flight test which was carried out from a two-tube launcher, the remaining flight tests (May 29, 2012, February 11, 2013 and November 5, 2013) were carried from a four tube launcher.

However, this was not the only – or even the most significant – difference between the four flight tests. The most significant departure was the language used in the Inter Services Press Release (ISPR) press release following the fourth Nasr flight test. The ISPR press releases following the earlier tests here, here and here had unambiguously claimed that the Nasr “carried nuclear warheads (sic) of appropriate yield.” Though the remaining text of the statement is largely similar to the earlier press releases, the statement following the fourth flight-test is different in one aspect. The statement claims that the missile, “contributes to the full spectrum deterrence against threats in view of the evolving scenarios.” 

For the Complete article click here

Share:

Read more