Indian Strategic Studies

3 April 2015

German government approves controversial fracking bill

German cabinet has decided to allow shale gas fracking in Germany, but only under strict regulation and for testing purposes. Even so, lawmakers criticized the proposed bill for not being strict enough.

German government approves controversial fracking bill

According to the government proposal, fracking should be prohibited in so-called sensitive regions such as nature parks or water bore areas, and in depths above 3,000 meters. However, the bill allows for exceptions such as scientific tests, and it does not eliminate the possibility of commercial drilling past 2018.

The public remains hostile to the plan, with environmentalists, unions and even churches criticizing the proposal. There is even strong resistance within the ruling coalition itself, which holds 504 out of 631 seats in the German parliament.

South Korea Beefs Up Cyber Security With an Eye on North Korea

By Tae-jun Kang

April 01, 2015

South Korea has announced it will create a new presidential post handling cyber security. The move is seen an effort to better prepare Seoul for a possible cyber attack from North Korea.

Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook explained at a general briefing on March 31 that the creation of the new presidential post is designed to beef up the country’s control tower over cyber security.

When the computer networks of South Korean broadcasting companies and banks were paralyzed in 2013 in an attack attributed to North Korea, there was a rumor that South Korea’s Blue House was mulling a special post that would cyber security. The Blue House later denied those reports.

Insurgents Used Cell Phone Geotags to Destroy AH-64s in Iraq

MARCH 15, 2012

Here’s a battlefield safety issue that some people have been warning about –and others have been ignoring — for a while now; an enemy using social media and cellphone geotagging to identify the precise location of troops on a battlefield.

When you take a photo with your cellphone, the gps coordinates of the location you took the picture is embedded into the image. When you upload said photo onto the internet for all to see, people can pull the location data from that picture. If you think this is just people being paranoid and that the Taliban would never do this in Afghanistan, think again. Insurgents figured out how to use this to their advantage in Iraq years ago. In 2007, a group of Iraqi insurgents used geotags to destroy several American AH-64 Apache choppers sitting on a flightline in Iraq.

Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders: 50 intrepid guides for a messy world

By Geoff Colvin

MARCH 26, 2015

Governments are failing, companies are under siege, and age-old institutions are losing their grip. How do you lead in a time when everyone is a free agent, following his own star? We’ve found 50 living lessons.

Leung Chun-ying is the leader of Hong Kong. As chief executive, he signs bills into law, issues executive orders, appoints and removes judges and other public officials, and pardons convicted criminals. He’s the leader—except that last fall well over 100,000 Hong Kongers chose dramatically not to follow him. When they learned that the 2017 election for Leung’s position would not be free and democratic, as authorities had previously suggested, they poured into the streets and followed Joshua Wong, then 17, who had started a pro-democracy student group. Leung, 60, commanded a vast city administration, including police wielding pepper spray and truncheons. Wong had a cellphone. Yet the protesters paralyzed Hong Kong for three months, Leung’s already low approval ratings plunged to their lowest ever, and Wong landed on the cover of Time’s Asia edition, which called him the “Voice of a Generation.”

can-halo-master-chief-save-microsoft-internet

A few days ago, Microsoft made it official – it is killing off the Internet Explorer brand. The move is understandable, as IE is a brand with baggage and bad connotations for a significant portion of the Internet surfing public, who saw the browser as slow and outdated.

Soon – the thinking is sometime in April – Microsoft will introduce a new browser with a new brand.

And what will they call the new browser? As Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said, “we have to name the thing.”

This is no small matter. The brand Microsoft chooses will be front-and-center for millions of its customers. This is an opportunity for Microsoft to send a message that it’s no longer your grandfather’s gateway to the Internet; that’s hip and cool.

A Critic’s Case for Critics Who Are Actually Critical

By DWIGHT GARNER

AUG. 15, 2012

In the spring of 1983, Esquire convened what it called a revenge symposium. The editors asked a group of well-known writers to “let go unbridled comments” on their harshest and least favorite critics. The results were spectacular.

Jim Harrison called his detractors “tweed fops” and “snack-food artists.” Roy Blount Jr. declared about Larry McMurtry, who panned one of his books: “I hear he is absurdly, egregiously — especially in a cowboy hat — short.” Erica Jong recalled that Paul Theroux, while reviewing her novel “Fear of Flying,” referred to her as a “mammoth pudenda.” (Actually he was referring to the novel’s main character.) She replied: “Since Mr. Theroux has no personal acquaintance with the organ in question, I cannot help but wonder whether some anxieties about his own anatomy were at the root (as it were) of his review.”

Mexico Is Arming Itself With U.S. Military Hardware

By ROBERT BECKHUSEN

In recent years, Mexico has made a major shift in how it equips its military. Instead of largely relying on European nations to sell it weapons — as was the case for decades — Mexico is increasingly turning to the United States.

Because there’s a drug war going on … which the U.S. is eager to help bankroll.

It’s not just money, of which the U.S. has provided $2.5 billion since 2008. The U.S. continues to supply Mexico with battle rifles, Humvees, helicopters and gobs of night vision gear. It all comes during an internal conflict that’s killed tens of thousands of people and is still extremely violent.

Here’s How U.S. Air Force Drones Snoop on Latin America

By JOSEPH TREVITHICK

Drones are only getting more and more ubiquitous, but large military-grade unmanned spies are still too expensive for most countries to fly.

Well aware of these issues, the U.S. Air Force is working to make its massive RQ-4 Global Hawks available to its allies in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to an official briefing we obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

During the 2011 briefing, the flying branch explained that the RQ-4—which has a longer wingspan than a Boeing 737 airliner—is useful for finding drug fields and helping plan offensives against rebel groups.

The ‘Tsar Bomba’ Was a 50-Megaton Monster Nuke

By PAUL HUARD

Maj. Andrei Durnovtsev, a Soviet air force pilot and commander of a Tu-95 Bear bomber, holds a dubious honor in the history of the Cold War.

Durnovtsev flew the aircraft that dropped the most powerful nuclear bomb ever. It had an explosive force of 50 megatons, or more than 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima weapon.

Over the years, historians identified many names for the test bomb.

Che Guevara Was Really Into Shotguns and Molotov Cocktails

By DARIEN CAVANAUGH

Shotguns and Molotov cocktails are standard fare during the early phases of revolutions. They’re common and easily obtained in urban and rural areas. Spent shotgun casings are relatively simple and inexpensive to reload.

Likewise, Molotov cocktails can be made from an array of readily available household materials — basically, a liquor bottle and some flammable liquid.

But these weapons have obvious limitations, and rebel groups tend to abandon them in favor of more versatile and effective weapons as soon as they can.

Putin’s New 'Wunderwaffe': The World’s Deadliest Tank?

By Franz-Stefan Gady

April 02, 2015

Russia will display its newest tank during the Victory Day Parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 this year. 20 units of the world’s first series-produced third generation main battle tank, designated T-14 and based upon the new “Armata” universal chassis system, have recently been delivered to the Russian Armed Forces for training purposes.

By 2020, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world, plans to produce 2,300 T-14 Armata models. According to media reports, large deliveries of the tank (around 500 per year) will start in 2017. In total, the Russian Land Forces are scheduled to receive a batch of 32 Armata main battle tanks this year.

Singapore's New Drone Is 'Fully Operational'

April 02, 2015

The Singaporean Air Force declared its new drone fully operational this week. As IHS Jane’s 360 reported earlier this week, Singapore’s Elbit Hermes 450 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is ready for operational use by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), eight years after its original delivery in May 2007. The Hermes 450 is a long-endurance UAV, measuring 6.1 m nose-to-tail with a wingspan of 10.5 m. As IHS Jane’s notes, the Hermes 450 “is capable of fully autonomous flight with in-flight redirection capability and features GPS-based navigation, advanced dual computers, dual datalinks and redundant electrical and avionics systems.” The Hermes 450 is of Israeli origin and is primarily used for reconnaissance, communications, and surveillance use.

These are the plans for Russia's new third-generation tank

MAR 31, 2015

Pro-Russian rebel military vehicles convoy move towards Donetsk , Eastern Ukraine on Nov. 10, 2014. On Saturday, AP reporters saw scores of unmarked military vehicles moving near Donetsk and farther to the east.

Russia is just about to unveil its latest armored platform, the T-14 tank.

The tank, called the Armata, has largely been kept under wraps although technical details about the platform have steadily been emerging. The Armata is planned to feature considerable upgrades to the armor, engine, and armaments of the vehicle over previous Russian and Soviet tank models.

2 April 2015

Asian Participation in the London Process

Cherian Samuel,

March 31, 2015
Source Link

The Hague Global Cyber Security Conference, the fourth in the series of the eponymously named London Process Conferences, is set to take place on the 16th and 17th of April 2015. The London Process has had a chequered history. Begun in 2011 as a mechanism to propagate the values and ideals of an open and global cyberspace, it was conceived as a state-sponsored summit that gave fair and adequate representation to all participants to discuss issues at the intersection of security, economic growth and human rights. Positioned as a forum midway between the two extremes of the multi-stakeholder centric Internet Governance Forum and state-dominated fora such as the International Telecommunications Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, it has struggled to get traction. The last iteration of the conference was held in Seoul in 2013. Since there were no takers to host a conference the next year, the Dutch took on the mantle of hosting the Conference in 2015.

Up In Arms: The Army officers’ promotion case

By Sushant Singh
April 2, 2015
Source Link

The numbers of Brigadiers, Maj Generals and Lt Generals in various arms is decided on a pro rata basis from the number of Colonels in each arm.

Written

The dispute is over the distribution of vacancies of Colonels to various branches (arms and services) of the Army, viz. Infantry, Artillery, Armoured Corps, Engineers, Signals, Mechanised Infantry, etc. Before 2009, the number of Colonels in each branch was pro rata, i.e., proportional to the number of officers in the rank of Lt Col and below. After 2009, the Army switched to a Command Exit policy, which has benefitted the Infantry and Artillery at the cost of other arms and services. Five officers approached the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) against the policy. Last month, the AFT upheld their contention, and ruled that the Command Exit policy violated Article 14. The government filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against the AFT judgment. On March 25, the SC stayed the AFT ruling. The next hearing is on 15 April.

Barefoot solar engineers

By Bunker Roy
April 2, 2015
Source Link

"Let Bharat adopt a demystified decentralised model where poor rural people without formal education are trained to fabricate, install, repair and maintain their own solar systems," writes Roy.

Written

What we definitely don’t need are $1,000-a-day consultants from the World Bank and international donor agencies producing voluminous reports to tell India the infinite advantages of business models. What Bharat, and the rural poor, need is an indigenous Gandhian solution where the control, management and ownership of the technology lie in the hands of the people themselves. This argument is entirely based on common sense. It is absurd to force an urban solution on a rural problem. If we don’t involve the people in decision-making from the very beginning, top-down multi-million dollar solar projects currently being planned in India will become colossal failures.

Saudi strikes fuel Gulf strife

Patrick Cockburn
Apr 2 2015
Source Link

FOREIGN states that go to war in Yemen usually come to regret it. The Saudi-led military intervention so far involves only air strikes, but a ground assault may follow. The code name for the action is Operation Decisive Storm, probably an indication of what Saudi Arabia and its allies would like to happen in Yemen, rather than what will actually occur.

Confrontations between Sunni and Shia, and between Saudi Arabia and its allies and Iran and its allies, are becoming deeper and more militarised. Conflicts cross-infect and exacerbate each other, preventing solutions to individual issues. The Saudi intervention in Yemen reduces the chance of a US-Iranian agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme and sanctions. As these conflicts and divisions spread, the chances of creating a common front that is capable of destroying the Isis are getting fewer by the day. — The Independent

Vietnam and Great Power Rivalries

By Nhina Le and Koh Swee Lean Collin

March 31, 2015

http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/vietnam-and-great-power-rivalries/

It all began with apparently innocuous activity reported in both the Russian and Vietnamese press citing the Russian Defense Ministry on January 4. According to the reports, Russian Air Force Il-78 Midas tanker planes were granted access last year to Vietnam’s aerodrome facilities in Cam Ranh Bay, located in the southern Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa. The Il-78s enabled the refueling of Russian Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bombers, which coincided with intensified Russian military flights in the Asia-Pacific, including “Bear” sorties that circled the major U.S. military redoubt in Guam.

Is China's Economy Doomed?

Stephen Grenville

March 30, 2015

There has been much fretting about China's growth over the past five years. Onespecial focus for hand-wringing has been the Chinese financial system and its non-banking component—the shadow banking system—in particular.

Financial growth in China has certainly been rapid since 2007, a classic warning of impending trouble. In the decade before 2007, credit grew only a little faster than GDP, reaching 187 percent of GDP, which is about normal for an emerging economy.

China’s proposed 21st century trade route has many blind curves

Bhaswati Mukherjee

Mar 31, 2015

Among the ancient routes shrouded in myth and legend, the Silk Route played a predominant role in connecting Europe with Asia through the exchange of goods, culture and civilisation. The specific designation of the Silk Route is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating from the mid-19th century, when German geologist Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen named the route Die Seidenstrasse (the Silk Road). Since then this route continues to stir imaginations globally with its evocative mystery.

The Silk Route comprises a strategic initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose ambition is to link Central Asia and Europe with the Chinese economy through the Silk Road Economic Belt and expand China’s trade and strategic reach in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean stretching to East Africa. Given recent developments where China has been making claims and counter-claims with its neighbours in the South China Sea over exclusive rights on important waterways and islands, there is growing concern regarding China’s motive and agenda behind the project.

Information Warfare: China Takes A Victory Lap

March 31, 2015: After years of denying any involvement in Cyber War or having organized units for that sort of thing, China suddenly admitted that it was all true. This was all laid out in the latest (March 2015) issue of a Chinese military publication (The Science of Military Strategy). This unclassified journal comes out about once a year and makes it possible for all Chinese military and political leaders to freely discuss new military strategies. The March edition went into a lot of detail about Chinese Cyber War operations. Most of these details were already known for those who could read Western media. Many details of Chinese Cyber War activities are published in the West, if only to warn as many organizations as possible of the nature and seriousness of the threat. Apparently the Chinese leadership decided that the secrecy about their Cyber War activities was being stripped away by foreigners anyway so why bother continuing to deny. Publish and take a victory lap.

What could happen in China in 2015?

By Gordon Orr

December 2014

What do you get when you add slower economic growth, greater volatility, and rising competition to more international flights and genuine Chinese innovation? McKinsey director Gordon Orr’s annual predictions.

It seemed harder to prepare my “look ahead” this year. On reflection, I believe this is because political and economic leaders in China have clear plans and supporting policies that they are sticking to. You can debate the pace at which actions are being taken, but not really the direction in which the country is traveling. This means a number of the themes I highlighted for this year will remain relevant in 2015:

What Will Xi Do Next in the South China Sea?

By New America Foundation

March 30, 2015

The South China Sea, a small part of the ocean is causing a big international dispute. The region is situated in the middle of vital shipping routs, and some estimates say that there are more oil reserves than all of Saudi Arabia, giving China the ability to fuel itself for a century. Accordingly, China has claimed it as part of their maritime border, called their nine-dash line, which also overlaps with the claims of Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It’s become a flashpoint in the region, and the cause of military build up amongst all of these nations. The islands are also a test for the new Chinese foreign policy. How will they use their rising military and economic power?

The Real Reason for China's Massive Military Buildup

By Harry Kazianis

March 30, 2015

Over several different articles, I have been exploring the dynamics of the budding U.S.-China security dilemma—a high-tech drama pitting anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) against what we used to refer to as Air-Sea Battle (ASB)—and have offered several different ways to lessen the possibility of such a dynamic from becoming cemented into the Asia-Pacific’s security architecture. However, China’s development and implementation of A2/AD clearly has various origins. One such origin that deserves to be explored is the “historical nightmare” of China’s subjugation at the hands of various colonial and Asian powers.

Should U.S. Be Concerned About the Growing Size of the Chinese Navy?

March 31, 2015

China’s navy chief, Adm. Wu Shengli, strolled the Harvard University campusn a tweed blazer and slacks during a visit to the U.S. last fall, joking with students and quizzing school officials about enrolling some of his officers.

A few days earlier, he became the first Chinese navy chief to attend a 113-nation naval forum in Rhode Island, where he hailed U.S.-China military ties and discussed working together on global maritime challenges.

Shortly after his U.S. visit, Adm. Wu took another trip—this time to the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in the South China Sea where his country appears to be building a network of artificial island fortresses in contested waters. It was his first known visit to facilities U.S. officials fear could be used to enforce Chinese control of nearly all the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Why China Shouldn't Get Too Invested in Latin America

By Xue Li and Xu Yanzhuo

March 31, 2015

The First Ministerial Meeting of China-CELAC Forum, held in Beijing in early January 2015, was undoubtedly a successful one. More than 40 ministerial-level officials from 33 member states of CELAC participated in the meeting, while the heads of Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama attended the opening ceremony. Panama’s President, Juan Carlos Varela, suggested elevating the next meeting to heads of state and government level.

The meeting launched three outcome agreements, including the China-Latin American Countries and Caribbean States Cooperation Plan (2015-2019). China signed a $20 billion joint project loan agreement with Venezuela and a $5.3 billion loan agreement with Ecuador.

How to Decipher Yemen, Where the Enemy of Your Enemy Is Also Your Enemy

Graham E. Fuller

31/03/2015

Yemen, like Afghanistan, has a long reputation as a quagmire for foreign invaders. Saudi Arabia could break its teeth there if the U.S. does not constrain it. Astonishingly, Yemeni events have now conspired to bring about the supposed intervention of some 10 regional powers in one of the most hyped events in the Arabian Peninsula of recent times.

Most of this proxy war makes little sense: the threats emanating from Yemen are distorted and exaggerated, the stakes are actually relatively low (except for Yemenis), any imposed settlement is highly elusive, and the costs to those engaged may be high. For the U.S., it can be once again something of a lose-lose situation, where the enemy of my enemy is often also my enemy.

Revealed: Saudi Arabia's Plan to Transform the Middle East

April 1, 2015

Almost immediately after the death of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on January 22 and the ascension of his half-brother, Salman, to the throne, Saudis and Saudi-watchers in the West began speculating about the contours of Saudi domestic and foreign policy under the new king. While thefirst speech delivered by Salman within hours of becoming monarch stressed continuity, some seemed convinced that Saudi foreign policy in particular might experience an important shift under his watch. A mere two months after assuming the crown, it is becoming clear that King Salman has a different vision than did his predecessor Abdullah, and perhaps all those who came before him. Between restructuring some of the country’s most important political and economic institutions and launching an unprecedented, large-scale military operation in a neighboring country on the verge of a civil war, we could be witnessing the beginning of a completely new Saudi way of thinking. We could be on the verge of a Saudi perestroika.

Sorry, Obama: The Arab World No Longer Needs America

April 1, 2015

Saudi Arabia's attack on Yemen demonstrates Arab autonomy.

Operation Decisive Storm, the new coalition led by Saudi Arabia to roll back the takeover of Yemen by the Houthis is seen as an awakening by most of the Arabs, a new page that restores the strategic balance between them and Iran. There is a sense of relief and euphoria in many capitals that after a long hiatus, there is a new dynamism, new Arab spirit, and a resolve to roll back what they see as Iran’s “coup” in the region. There is a sense of regained dignity for the Arabs and a trust that the Arab world can take a stand. This new Arab reaction is also a warning to Iran that it has crossed “red lines” and overreached in its meddling in Arab affairs. Throughout the region, one hears and sees the belief that the Middle East before Operation Decisive Storm is not the same as it will be after it.

Make No Mistake — the United States Is at War in Yemen

MARCH 30, 2015

The Obama administration revealed that the United States was participating in yet another Middle East military intervention via a press release from the spokesperson of the National Security Council (NSC). This time, it’s Yemen. Late Wednesday evening, March 25, the White House posted a statement declaring: “President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]-led military operations.”

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