Latest Articles about South Asia
The China-Pakistan Reactor Deal and Asia’s Nuclear Energy Race
In late April, China announced the sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. This deal is clearly against the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the spirit if not the letter of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) [1]. Nevertheless, the United States has not... MORE
An Ominous Break from the Past in Thailand: Implications of the Red Shirt Revolt
King Chulalongkorn (Rama IV-1868-1910) is responsible for initiating the modernization process in Thailand. Enamored with European civilization of the time, especially European economic and scientific gains, King Chulalongkorn embraced European rule of law, capitalism, education, and to a limited extent, politics. The king even introduced... MORE
The Deobandi Debate Terrorist Tactics in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Muslim clerics following the Deobandi school of Islamic theology (named after the movement’s original seminary in Deoband, India) are now increasingly associated with the Taliban and other allied militant groups in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Though the parent Deobandi seminary in India has distanced itself... MORE
From Jihad to Human Rights: The Life and Death of Taliban Middleman Khalid Khawaja
Khalid Khawaja was found dead adjacent to a stream in the town of Karam Kot, North Waziristan on April 30, 2010 with a note pinned to his bullet-pierced body that read, “He was a U.S. agent and whoever spies for America will meet the same... MORE
The Religious Godfather of the Punjabi Taliban: Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi
Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, the elder brother of Abdul Rasheed Ghazi of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) infamy is probably the most notable Islamic ideologue in Pakistan’s rapidly radicalizing society (The Nation [Lahore], July 3, 2007). [1] With a following of thousands of diehard Islamists who... MORE
The Asian Tigers – The New Face of the Punjabi Taliban
The emergence in North Waziristan of the Asian Tigers, a previously unknown jihadi group, has several messages for jihad watchers. Two of them are very important. First, the Punjabi Taliban are slowly but surely growing in strength and numbers. Second, their war is primarily against... MORE
Missile Developments in China, India and Pakistan: A Burgeoning Missile Race
The rapid development and deployment of cruise and ballistic missile capabilities in recent years has raised the security stakes on the South Asian subcontinent. The three major nuclear states—India, China and Pakistan—have been sharpening their respective missile capabilities and stockpiling a growing arsenal, while simultaneously... MORE
Pakistan’s Ongoing Azm-e-Nau-3 Military Exercises Define Strategic Priorities
For the last few years, the Pakistan Army has been slowly but surely drifting away from fighting the war on terror and placing more stress on building its capabilities to fight its archrival, nuclear-armed India. The process was accelerated when General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani took... MORE
Rashid Rauf and the New York City Subway Bombing Plot
As security agencies pursue ethnic Pakistani suspects in the attempted Times Square bombing, another New York City bomb plot with connections to Pakistan and the U.K. is working its way through U.S. courts. The case involves an aborted attempt by natives of Pakistan and Afghanistan... MORE
Kishenji: A Profile of the Leader of the Indian Maoist Insurgency
Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, better known by the nom de guerre Kishenji, is the military leader of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and may have recently surpassed the leaders of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Tayyba as the biggest security headache for India’s ruling elites in New Delhi. Kishenji... MORE