Strategic Studies Institute

India Studies

Added March 18, 2010

Type: Letort Papers

Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India. Authored by Dr. Ryan Clarke.

When it comes to the analysis of Islamist terrorism, the vast majority of attention is given to the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan while the remainder goes towards Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia, and “homegrown” terrorism in the West. This unbalanced approach has resulted in a critical deficit in knowledge regarding the growth of the phenomenon in India, a country which faces the challenge of having to tackle Islamist terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as in India itself. What is clear is that the Pakistan based Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) has taken the leading role in spreading its terrorist infrastructure well outside of its original theater, Kashmir, and throughout the whole of India. Inadequate attention has especially been given to LeT’s connections with organized criminal syndicates in India, as well as Indian terrorists themselves. This paper aims to fill this gap and to enhance American understanding of this powerful and sophisticated organization that is set to pose a major challenge to stability and American interests in South Asia and elsewhere.

Added March 04, 2010

Type: Monograph

Transnational Insurgencies and the Escalation of Regional Conflict: Lessons for Iraq and Afghanistan. Authored by Dr Idean Salehyan.

Transnational insurgencies complicate traditional counterinsurgency operations in significant ways and can lead to conflict between states. This monograph examines several transnational militant groups, assesses the prospects for conflict and cooperation over cross-border violence, and discusses current issues facing Iraq and Afghanistan.

Added January 19, 2010

Type: Book

Pakistan's Nuclear Future: Reining in the Risk. Edited by Mr. Henry D. Sokolski.

With any attempt to assess security threats, there is a natural tendency to focus first on the worst. Consider the most recent appraisals of Pakistan’s nuclear program. Normally, the risk of war between Pakistan and India, and possible nuclear escalation, would be bad enough. Now, however, most American security experts are riveted on the frightening possibility of Pakistani nuclear weapons capabilities falling into the hands of terrorists who are intent on attacking the United States. Presented with the horrific implications of such an attack, the American public and media have increasingly come to view nearly all Pakistani security issues through this lens.

Added November 03, 2009

Type: Letort Papers

India's Strategic Defense Transformation: Expanding Global Relationships. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel Brian K. Hedrick.

India’s defense establishment is undergoing an unprecedented transformation as it seeks to (1) modernize its military, (2) obtain “strategic partnerships” with the United States and other nations, and (3) expand its influence in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Added March 05, 2007

Type: Book

Gauging U.S.-Indian Strategic Cooperation. Edited by Mr. Henry D. Sokolski.

The volume offers U.S. and Indian policy and law makers a detailed checklist of things to watch, avoid, and try to achieve in order to assure U.S.-Indian strategic cooperation succeeds.

Added February 20, 2007

Type: Monograph

Understanding Indian Insurgencies: Implications for Counterinsurgency Operations in the Third World. Authored by Deputy Inspector General Durga Madhab (John) Mitra.

The term insurgency has been used broadly to include all violent struggles against the state by any group or section of the population of an area trying to establish its independent political control over that area and its population. India has been containing Islamic terrorism for years, with the second largest Muslim population in the world, about 12 percent of India’s total population.

Added October 01, 2005

Type: Monograph

Natural Allies? Regional Security in Asia and Prospects for Indo-American Strategic Cooperation. Authored by Dr. Stephen J. Blank.

American military power has created a strategic revolution by its successful and prolonged projection into and from Central Asia. This monograph explores the strategic and policy ramifications of that revolution in strategic affairs.

Added February 01, 2005

Type: Monograph

The U.S.-India Relationship: Strategic Partnership or Complementary Interests? Authored by Dr. Amit Gupta.

This monograph discusses the potential for U.S.-India security cooperation and the possible avenues such cooperation may take.

Added May 01, 2004

Type: Monograph

Strategic Consequences of the Iraq War: U.S. Security Interests in Central Asia Reassessed. Authored by Dr. Elizabeth Wishnick.

The U.S.-led war in Iraq complicates security cooperation between the United States and Central Asia at a time when other regional powers—especially Russia, China, and India—are competing for influence in the region more overtly. The author argues that the United States should do more to address the underlying human security problems in Central Asia, which increase its vulnerability to terrorist movements.

Added July 01, 1996

Type: Monograph

India's Security Environment: Towards the Year 2000. Authored by Dr. Raju G. C. Thomas.

In January 1996, the U.S. War College's Strategic Studies Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted a conference on "Asian Security to the Year 2000." In his presentation to the conference, Dr. Raju Thomas examined India's defense perspectives and prospects.