Chinese debate on military strategy: Trends & portents

The 1980s have witnessed an intense debate by China’s strategic community over a military strategy in response to what Beijing sees as a shifting, but still complex and potentially troublesome, security environment. though the debate is yet to conclude, the broad contours of the new doctrine have been sketched out. Acknowledging that both superpowers are increasingly constrained by economic, political, and military factors in their contest for supremacy, Chinese analysts continue to warn against lowering armed guard at a time when the focus of the arms race is shifting to new frontiers: outer space and oceans. They would like China to strengthen its national defense rather than rely an arms control to mitigate threats to its security. China is continuing its defense modernization program, which will reshape its force structure and enhance its conventional and nuclear capabilities. and the author ofChinese National Security and Nuclear Arms Control [M. E. Sharpe, forthcoming].     

The communist movement in India

Abstract

Non-aligned India has been the focal point of the super-power détente. The Soviet Union has been interested in fore-closing a revolution in India because it regards India as the very model of “national democracy” which lends itself to peaceful transition to socialism. Besides, the Soviet Union, like the United States, wants a stable, viable India to ensure a continuing Asian confrontation with China. Both the super powers have tried to underwrite India in order to ensure that it is not convulsed by revolution. As India has been drawn into the vortex of the superpower game to contain China, its non-alignment has lapsed into double alignment.     

Participatory development and empowerment: The dangers of localism

Recent discussions in development have moved away from holistic theorisation towards more localised, empirical and inductive approaches. In development practice there has been a parallel move towards local ‘participation’ and ‘empowerment’, which has produced, albeit with very different agendas, a high level of agreement between actors and institutions of the ‘new’ Left and the ‘new’ Right. This paper examines the manifestations of this move in four key political arenas: decentralised service delivery, participatory development, social capital formation and local development, and collective actions for ‘radical democracy’. We argue that, by focusing so heavily on ‘the local’, the see manifestations tend to underplay both local inequalities and power relations as well as national and transnational economic and political forces. Following from this, we advocate a stronger emphasis on the politics of the local, ie on the political use of ‘the local’ by hegemonic and counter-hegemonic interests.     

Insecure peace: understanding citizen and local government relations in a Maoist-affected region in India

This paper examines emerging citizen and local government relations in a village in the Junglemahal region of the state of West Bengal, once a major bastion of the Maoist insurgency in India. Since 2014, Junglemahal has not experienced a single Maoist-related incident. This has been widely attributed to the West Bengal government’s “model” handling of the insurgency, which rests on the rapid mobilization of public services through the non-elected arms of local governments, bypassing elected officials. How have Junglemahal’s residents experienced this particular form of post-conflict governance? Drawing on the culture-centered approach that ethnographically observes the processes of identifying development problems and developing community-grounded solutions to these problems, our findings indicate that the hyper-developmental state was paradoxically experienced by our respondents as a very distant entity. A recurrent theme in our interviews is the absence of a locally embedded party leadership that could be approached regarding issues of distributive justice. We argue that this desire for party mediation in public service delivery is an expression of a powerful social norm that has survived the conflict and ought to be integrated into post-conflict governance structures if the current peace is to endure.     

Can constituent states influence foreign and security policy? Coalitional dynamics in India

Abstract

The Indian state has undergone significant transformation since the late 1980s, most notably the extensive decentralisation of power, with consequences for the formation and implementation of Indian foreign policy. This article explores the role of India’s constituent states explaining the extent and limitations of their autonomy and influence. It deploys and extends the state transformation approach to incorporate considerations of issue area and coalition type. Under coalitions led by typical national parties, subnational governments are less likely to influence foreign and security policy. Under the same coalition type, they are more likely to behave autonomously on non-traditional security issues such as sharing of water resources with neighbouring countries. They are less likely to behave autonomously on security issues such as the transnational expression of ethnic solidarity. Under coalitions led by atypical national parties or regional parties, subnational governments are likely to exercise a moderate level of autonomy and influence on issue areas such as transnational expression of ethnic solidarity. They are likely to exercise a high level of autonomy and influence on non-traditional security issues such as sharing of water resources. The framework is illustrated through Tamil Nadu’s activism on Sri Lanka, and West Bengal’s position on water-sharing with Bangladesh.     

Identification of critical success factors for public–private partnership projects

Public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the popular mechanisms for the development of infrastructure worldwide; governments across the globe are engaged in discovering a range of PPP policies and strategies for growth of infrastructure. The growth of infrastructure is imperative of the sustainable development of an economy. Therefore, it is pertinent to identify key success factors for the development of infrastructure through PPP model. The current paper aims to explore significant factors for successful execution and completion of PPP projects in infrastructure. A total of 517 employees who had hand‐on experience on PPP projects located in India were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 14 components as a significant factor for the success of PPP in infrastructure. This study highlights that the development of infrastructure would be rapid through PPP if government considers these factors in the implementation phase.     

Regulating business impacts on human rights in Southeast Asia - lessons from the EU

The mid-June endorsement by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights has been welcomed as the authoritative global standard for corporations to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles are the culmination of a 6-year UN-commissioned study by Professor John Ruggie, which concludes that companies should carry out human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts. Drawing on related regulation in Europe, this article considers how best to implement the Guiding Principles in Southeast Asia.     

An exploration of public risk perception and governmental engagement of nuclear energy in India

Public acceptance constitutes an important factor in successfully establishing and operating nuclear power plants. This paper explores public attitudes to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project commissioned in 2013 and situated in Southern India, through assessing the role of socio‐demographic factors, externalities, and social trust in determining the level of public acceptance. An exploratory survey (n = 100) was carried out in two administrative units in the vicinity of the plant. The study reveals that acceptance of the plant is positively correlated with positive externalities and trust in governmental entities, whereas negative externalities and trust in antinuclear nongovernmental organizations and media are associated with negative public perception. The results show that governmental policies on nuclear power must support the effects of positive externalities and reduce the effects of negative externalities.