Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Disentangling the Perceptions of ‘Grey Zone Warfare’!

Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

One of our most serious problems today is defining what war is. Historically, war and warfare have rigid definitions, and national security and military doctrines, the capabilities and structures are designed to respond to those definitions. Wars wer....

February 08, 2023 VIF Alerts, International Relations and Diplomacy, China, Article, LAC, Sun Tzu, no war no peace, Grey Zone warfare

IAF’s Revised Doctrine 2022: An Overview

Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

The Indian Air Force has very recently published the third iteration of its Doctrine, a document which forges the close connect between India’s national security and its air power. Few are probably aware that the IAF has also been elevated to the t....

February 07, 2023 VIF Alerts, National Security and Strategic Studies, Defence, Article, Air defence, Indian Air Force, SAGAR, doctrine, Air space, joint planning, no war no peace, space assets

Peshawar Bombing likely to Heighten Stress in Pakistan-Taliban Relations

Dr Anwesha Ghosh Article

Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan in August 2021 was seen as a strategic victory for Pakistan. But the initial euphoria considerably withered away in the course of the following months, by the general drift in the Pakistan-Taliban relations. Two fac....

February 06, 2023 VIF Alerts, Neighbourhood Studies, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Article, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Durand Line, TTP, Afghan Taliban, Peshawar bombing, terrorist attack

Pompeo’s Balakot Claim and the Need to Adopt a Nuanced Understanding of Indo-Pak Deterrence Relationship

Dhritiman Mukherjee Article

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent claim that India and Pakistan were on the brink of a nuclear war after India conducted the Balakot airstrike in February 2019 has rekindled fears over the fragile state of deterrence relationship be....

February 03, 2023 VIF Alerts, Neighbourhood Studies, Pakistan, Article, Crises, nuclear deterrence, stability, neutrality, Mediation

Fumio Kishida’s Five-nation Tour: An Assessment

Prof Rajaram Panda Article

After adopting a path-breaking measure to rearm Japan in December 2022 in the wake of North Korean threat and China’s belligerence, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida undertook a six-day, five nation tour starting with 8 January 2023 that took ....

February 02, 2023 VIF Alerts, International Relations and Diplomacy, Article, Taiwan Straits, Fumio Kishida, NPT Review Conference, Defense build-up, G-7 summit, Reciprocal Access Agreement, Indo-Pacific paradigm

The Unbroken Guru-Sishya tradition and The Continuity of Bharatvarsha

S Gurumurthy, Chairman, VIF Article

Bharatvarsh, the nation that is today Bharat, has an antiquity dating back to the Vedic period -- at least 3500 years before. There is no land and people on this earth who have been aligned like Bharatvarsh and Bharatiyas. Their alignment has an anti....

February 01, 2023 VIF Alerts, Historical and Civilisational Studies, Article, Swami Vivekananda, Indian Civilisation, Upanishad, Guru Sishya tradition, Bharatvarsha, Purana, Sanatan

The Promise and Peril of Africa in 2023

Samir Bhattacharya, Senior Research Associate, VIF Article

As the year 2022 ended, here is a brief recap of what happened in Africa over the past year. Most African countries were still battling to recover from the pandemic when the year began. However, a series of disruptions, such as supply shortages and s....

February 01, 2023 VIF Alerts, International Relations and Diplomacy, Africa, Article, democracy, Climate Change, Africa, election, COVID-19, AfCFTA, Military Coup, Scramble for Africa, Islamist terrorism, Horn of Africa, COP27, Sahel

Geopolitics of Cyber Attribution

Divyanshu Jindal Article

Abstract With the world witnessing a full-scale offensive as a part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict it now seems inevitable that all future conflicts will have a cyber component. As nations worldwide prepare to develop their capabilities and chalk ....

January 31, 2023 VIF Alerts, National Security and Strategic Studies, Cyber Security, Article, Geopolitics, Cyberspace, espionage, Cyber, cyberattack, Attribution, Cyberwarfare

Bangladesh in 2022: Year-End Review and Way Forward

Dr Anil Kumar Article

The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus was threatening the world at the beginning of 2022, and the impact was more severe in developing countries like Bangladesh. The pandemic impacted overall growth and dented the economy to a great extent. Most ....

January 30, 2023 VIF Alerts, Neighbourhood Studies, Bangladesh, Article, India, democracy, economy, Development, election, Bangladesh, Security, Infrastructure