India-US Civil Nuclear Deal: Manmohan Singh Overcomes the CPI (M) Veto

--P M Kamath

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Washington DC in July 2005, signed an agreement on India-US Civil Nuclear Deal (CND). The ultimate aim of the CND is to enable India to get access to the state-of-the-art civil nuclear technology to enable India to keep pace with the growing demand for energy, thereby achieving energy security, which will help India to diversify and promote clean and environment-friendly source of energy. The US coming forward to offer the CND to India was a belated admission of their failure to prevent India acquiring nuclear weapons state status. George W Bush decided to change the policy towards India and politically it was feasible. Hence, he decided to get India on board in curbing further proliferation by co-opting India. However, since the Indian approval of the 123 Agreement on August 1, 2007, there has been a long delay in moving further on remaining three stages: 1) signing India-specific IAEA protocols on nuclear safeguards; 2) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) exempting civil nuclear trade with India; and 3) the US Congressional approval to the 123 Agreement in completing CND. With political realignment in the Lok Sabha and the UPA government winning the vote of confidence, CND is likely to be finalized before the year end.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Peace Overtures to the Taliban: Widening Rift Between the Us and Its European Partners in Afghanistan

--Partha Pratim Basu

While the international intervention in Afghanistan has entered its seventh year, few would deny that the NATO's maiden operation outside Europe has run into deep trouble. The US-led coalition's combat-cum-reconstruction efforts evidently suffered from a perilous drift; the lack of strategic coherence and coordination became palpable and growing dissonance over a series of issues between the US on one hand and its European NATO partners on the other came into open during the last two years. In this backdrop, the move on the part of the President Karzai to open a dialogue with the resurgent Taliban and supported by several European states, especially Britain, which many perceived as an act of frustration and desperation if not abject surrender, further underlined the perceptional differences between Washington and its European allies on the seeming stalemate in Afghanistan. This paper first brings out the cracks within the international coalition; next the arguments of the supporters of engaging the Taliban in a dialogue are recounted; thirdly, the hazardous implications of this course of action are examined. The concluding section suggests that the proposed talks were a premature move; indeed, any step on the part of the international community to leave the war-torn country to its fate at this juncture would amount to a breach of trust.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Learning from Sri Lanka's Eelam Wars

--Col R Hariharan

Sri Lanka's Eelam wars against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) going on for over two decades, hold a number of strategic lessons for other countries. These include issues such as conflict management strategies, impact of globalization on conflict, impact of global war on terror, soft issues critical to counterinsurgency, the limits of international intervention and the use of expatriate population in such conflicts. The Sri Lankan wars make it clear that in addition to military strategy, evolving national consensus with a political agenda in tandem is essential to evolve a lasting solution. As a result of globalization, in future, local wars are more likely to spill over across the borders, with the insurgents using sympathetic expatriate population to their advantage. To combat such insurgencies, states can use the international protocols evolved as part of the global war on terror. For best and enduring results, both sides should preferably meet directly and evolve a framework on a time-based agenda.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

India in the Evolving Central Eurasian Matrix

--Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra

Situating India in the evolving Central Eurasian Matrix is an exploration in the ever changing post-Soviet geo-political scene filled with competing powers with conflicting interests. The theater of Central Eurasia, often associated with the concepts like Great Game and New Great Game, has acquired increasing significance in the post-Cold War scenario. The Great Game, which was coined in the age of imperialism and colonialism had brought the Anglo-Russian rivalry in the region to its peak. After the end of the World War-II, the region gained importance not only due to its strategic position, but also due to its rich energy resources. In the post-Cold War post-Soviet space, the emergence of the region as a hotbed of competing politics has led to the rise of various alignments. Whether it is religious fundamentalism or nation-building travails, their overarching impact on India cannot be overlooked. In this background, India needs to develop a multitask policy to develop partnership with the region. India's energy needs can also be largely met by exploring partnership with the countries in the region.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Area Studies and the Challenge of Globalization: Issues and Concerns

--Aparajita Gangopadhyay

While presenting a historical outline of the genesis, growth and development of Area Studies as a discipline, this paper focuses on its possible re-configuration in relation to the contemporary processes of globalization. At a time, when there is considerable scholarly scepticism regarding the continued consideration of the nation-state as a preeminent framework for understanding society and culture (something Area Studies has historically done), it is legitimate to interrogate the theoretical and methodological wherewithal of Area Studies with a view to contribute to its self-reflexitivity. Even as the various accounts of the institutional histories of Area Studies present it as a non-starter in the context of the higher education system in India, this paper underlines the need to address the broader questions concerning the production of knowledge and the politics behind its subsequent disciplinary location. In this sense, this paper can also be looked at as a modest attempt towards a conceptual history of Area Studies in India amidst the prevailing pre-occupation with institutional narratives.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

The Republic of Komi: The Changing Face of a Migrant Community

--Shabaev Yuri Petrovich

The Republic of Komi is an extensive region in the North of European Russia. The region is rich in oil, coal, timber and other resources; therefore in the 20^th century, it turned from a sparsely populated and purely agrarian region into industrial, urbanized territory. In 1921, Komi got the status of an autonomous area, and in 1936, an autonomous republic on the ground that the Komis comprised about 90% of the population of these lands. In the 1950s, the industrialization has in principal changed the ethnic structure of the population of the republic. The massive inflow of migrants caused by industrialization changed the ethnodemographic structure of the local population as well as the mode of relations between ethnic groups. The Komi Republic has not succeeded in forming a unified territorial community. Its population still remains a spilt society, which is unable to successfully integrate migrants into the society. This community is still extremely segmented and, despite its migrant nature, impregnated with antimigrant sentiments and xenophobia, which still cannot be quenched. These sentiments may sharpen internal conflicts at a future stage of the Republic's social development, when a new wave of migration is likely to occur.

© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Book Review

Indonesia: Democracy and the Promise of Good Governance

Author : Ross H McLeod and Andrew MacIntyre (Eds.) Reviewed by Ashish Saxena

© 2007 Institute of Southeast Asian studies. IUP holds the copyright for the review.