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Military Option to the Challenge of Global Terrorism:
A Successful Failure?
-- Femi Adegbulu
America’s sense of security was shattered by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This has culminated in ostentatious ‘war on terrorism’ which, to all intents and purposes, has been misconstrued. This paper explores the historical antecedents of terrorism and the attempts at quelling it. It views the unfolding trend of the use of force to ‘eliminate’ terrorism as faulty. The paper believes that until the basic psychology and motivations of terrorists are understood and some of their reasonable grievances addressed, rather than stemming the tide, current approaches will exacerbate the incident of global terrorism. The paper concludes by recommending inter alia: that policy and attitudinal change rather than military bravado, will reduce the ugly incident of terrorism. © 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
The China Factor in India-US Relations:
Dissonance to Uneasy Convergence and After?
-- B Ramesh Babu
India-US relations have always been complex and will continue to be so in the future. Unlike our bilateral relations with most other countries, India’s equation with America operates in the context of mutual expectations, which are invariably high and unlikely to be fulfilled. On the other hand, our equations with Russia and China are largely driven by government to government relations. Historically, the Chinese factor in India-US relations has transited from the negative to the positive. The war of 1962 in the Himalayas was the turning point. However, a number of ambiguities and countervailing factors play their part on both sides. It seems that the Indian and American governments are not anxious to press forward and clarify the subterranean realities at this time. The US and China are economically so intertwined and interdependent that they have to hang together, notwithstanding the many ‘other’ factors (human rights, Taiwan, and above all the “not so peaceful rise of China”1) that pull them apart. The growing proximity in India-US relationship is seen with suspicion by China. The China factor will necessarily prolong the wariness on both sides. © 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Russian President Vladimir Putin – Act III
-- R G Gidadhubli
Vladimir Putin started his Third Act of presidential term from May 2012, having won the election held in March 2012. This presidential election was unprecedented in the contemporary history of Russia, considering the magnitude and nature of protests and campaign against Putin’s candidature in Moscow, St. Petersburg and a few cities in Russia by certain sections of the society comprising opposition party leaders, political activists, educated class, writers, artists, younger generation, etc. There were several causes for their agitation and the protestors were against the authoritarian policies pursued by Putin, the growing role of ‘Siloviki’ clan and bureaucratic regime, the economic decline and persisting problems, the widening social and economic disparities and so on. Notwithstanding these protests, Putin proved his true leadership quality and determination to succeed in his objective and managed to convert adverse conditions to his favor by adopting a comprehensive strategy and using State Apparatus for mass mobilization of workers, often forcing state employees, reaching out to the people in urban and rural areas to vote in his favor and accusing protestors of using American support. Putin also brought in the ‘stability factor’ and his image as a strong leader that Russia needed, thus appealing to the mindset of a section of society in Russia. By winning the election, Putin has won half the battle, since he might face several formidable challenges in his presidency up to 2018. Some of the major challenges are: ‘trust deficit’ among the urban elite against his policies of overcentralization; fulfilling the promises he has made, including social and political reforms; constraints to mobilizing resources to ensure economic growth and modernization; reducing economic disparities; containing the huge and corrupt bureaucratic regime; challenge of reestablishing the ties with the USA for attracting and soliciting western technology, capital and so on. In essence, Putin has to revise and revert many of the policies he pursued during the last decade, work out a compromise formula with opposition parties on critical national issues, fulfill many promises that he made during election campaign and work in tandem with Medvedev, while playing the balancing act in his Third Act as president of Russia. © 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
United Nations and ECOWAS Joint Intervention
in Sierra-Leonean Conflict: An Analysis of the Problems
of Peacekeeping, Peacemaking and Peace Enforcement
--Chuka Enuka
This paper analyzes the problems of peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peace-enforcement in the management of the Sierra-Leone conflict. As the conflict erupted in Sierra-Leone between the government of Sierra-Leone and the rebel group, RUF, the scale of carnage and horror occasioned by its escalation made a third party intervention unarguably imperative. Both the United Nations and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened. The ECOWAS/UN intervention featured a unique idea of division of labor between the United Nations and regional organization in the resolution of regional conflict. The paper, therefore, looks at the joint involvement of the UN and ECOWAS in the Sierra-Leonean conflict and the attendant problems of peacekeeping, peacemaking and peace enforcement that haunted the intervention. The paper concludes that the idea of joint intervention in a regional conflict is sensible, notwithstanding the obvious and indubitable problems and difficulties that assailed the United Nations and ECOWAS intervention in the Sierra-Leonean conflict. © 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Climate Change and National Security: An Intersection
-- Anjan Kumar Sahu
The issue of environment and its linkage with national security has been an enduring debate in the domain of security discourse. The association of environment with national security polarized the group of scholars. One group recognizes the association and the other derecognizes. However, presently, the issue of climate change is facing the same problem. Though climate change is a new phenomenon in the scientific, political and economic, and security discourses than environmental security, the two are interlinked. However, the common problem of the two, as recognized by a few scholars, is that any association of environment or climate change with national security will bring militarization of the issue and an overwhelming role of state. However, this paper argues that climate change needs to be linked with national security and its negative repercussions can be minimized with the democratic engagement of civilian and military officials, political and non-political people, and state and non-state actors. Nevertheless, it exacts change of mindset to concede the new climate change threats, urgent reform of military institutions and active engagement of people in the climate change decision-making process. © 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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