Category Archives: United States

Giap the Great and thoughts on the Indian nation

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Perhaps, the greatest general of the 20th Century, Vo Nguyen Giap, the Vietnamese victor over, successively, the Japanese Imperial land forces, the French colonial army, the United States and, under his guidance as defence minister, the beating up of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, civil-military relations, Geopolitics, guerilla warfare, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Japan, Missiles, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, United States, US., Western militaries | 5 Comments

Manmohan agenda to please USA

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Prime minister Manmohan Singh canvassed furiously for almost a year for another state visit and a meeting with the US president. It is revealing that the Barack Obama administration initially showed little interest, not convinced that it needed to expend … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, disarmament, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Indian ecobomic situation, Military Acquisitions, nonproliferation, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, Terrorism, United States, US., Weapons | 4 Comments

Obama — saving face

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

After all the heightened drama,war noises, and threatening talk emanating for the last several weeks from Washington of mounting punitive attacks on Syria for Damascus’ alleged úse of chemical weapons (CWs), President Obama seems all set to accept a so-called … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China military, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 4 Comments

Obama’s potentially appalling mistake

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The US learns nothing from its wars, not from all the military disasters it set in train in this millennium — Afghanistan and Iraq that did little else but prepare the ground for the Islamist radical take-over. Yes, Saddam Hussain … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, China, China military, Cyber & Space, Defence Industry, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, guerilla warfare, Russia, russian military, Terrorism, United States, US., West Asia, Western militaries | 6 Comments

F-22 Downed (?) and US-Russian reset

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

There are conflicting reports about an US Air Force F-22 Raptor crashing in Jordan in the area bordering Syria. Whether or not such an aircraft was downed presumably by a Syrian S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft missile unit that Russia also touts as … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Europe, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, Missiles, Russia, russian assistance, russian military, United States, US., Weapons, West Asia, Western militaries | 3 Comments

More nuclear claptrap from another ex-diplomat

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

I suspect that whenever former civil service types, ex-diplomats, and growingly even retired militarymen feel the inner tug to be in the public eye, they pronounce on things manifestly beyond their ken and areas of expertise, revealing their quite appalling … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, China, China military, disarmament, Europe, Geopolitics, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Politics, Internal Security, Japan, Military Acquisitions, Missiles, nonproliferation, Northeast Asia, Nuclear Policy & Strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Pakistan military, Pakistan nuclear forces, South Asia, South East Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 12 Comments

Need to harden China policy

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

It is possible the Chinese may have bitten off more than they can chew. Beijing has rubbed three main countries of the Indo-Pacific region — Japan, the United States and India — the wrong way. This new triple entente constitutes … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, China military, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian Army, Indian Ocean, Japan, Northeast Asia, Russia, russian military, South Asia, Strategic Relations with South East Asia & Far East, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US., Western militaries | 1 Comment

India – America’s 52nd State?

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

The pull on Indian legislators of “planet America” (in Christopoher Hitchens’ words) is so strong that some 65 Members of Parliament — 40 of them from the Rajya Sabha, have allowed themselves to be sucked into that planet’s orbit and … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Indian Politics, Internal Security, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | Leave a comment

BJP Rajnath’s wrong steps

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh has taken a few missteps. The first one was his unthinkingly parroting the line that education in the English language medium is a measure of retrogression when, whether any body likes it or not, … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian geopolitics, Indian Politics, Internal Security, South Asia, Strategic Relations with the US & West, United States, US. | 3 Comments

Biden trip and the issue of “rebalancing in Asia”

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Bharat Karnad

US Vice President Joe Biden will be in Mumbai and Delhi, July 22-24, and is expected to reinforce the message sent by American trade and commercial interests who hope to gain greater traction in the Indian market, by reiterating the … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Asian geopolitics, Central Asia, Geopolitics, Great Power imperatives, India's China Policy, India's Pakistan Policy, India's strategic thinking and policy, Indian ecobomic situation, Indian Ocean, Pakistan, Pakistan military, South Asia, Special Forces, United States, US., Western militaries | Leave a comment