26/11: Seriously not ready
Brigadier Xerxes Adrianwalla takes a hard look at the security response to 26/11 and outlines the urgent systemic changes needed in our approach to combating terrorism.
Brigadier Xerxes Adrianwalla takes a hard look at the security response to 26/11 and outlines the urgent systemic changes needed in our approach to combating terrorism.
Ambassador Kishan Rana, a veteran diplomat and now Author, discusses the confluence of business and foreign policy in India in an exclusive interview with Gateway House.
Although the U.S. has not faced another terrorist attack since 9/11, much has changed in its democratic framework. Gripped by fear, 3,984 federal, state and local organizations work on domestic counter-terrorism, spending an estimated $1 trillion.
A decade after 9/11, the U.S. has prevented further terrorist attacks - a major achievement. But with a $1.3 trillion budget deficit, a debt downgrade, and 24 million Americans searching for jobs, the U.S. needs to attend to matters at home rather than intervening in the world's affairs.
Osama Bin Laden’s death may not have an immediate effect on Al Qaeda’s ability to conduct operations nor may it deter the ‘democratic’ protests of the Arab Spring. Pakistan though, will now have to answer to global questioning and may reshuffle its stance with the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
Japan’s Fukushima fallout puts the future of nuclear power in India in jeopardy. Our energy needs are so high that we will now need to consider all forms of energy - solar, wind, bio-mass, geo-thermal, oceanic energy, even energy through waves.
While ISRO works on maturing the GSLV technology, India should cash in on GSLV’s younger sibling - the successful and highly reliable PSLV - to compete in the international launch business.
Indo-US business dealings and the US Federal Reserve’s money-printing initiative may have saved Chinese President Hu Jintao the headache of explaining – to his American counterpart – China’s stealth fighter shocker, undervalued currency and giant trade surplus.
Though a permanent seat at the Norwegian Room is still an aspiration; for now, India can celebrate making it to the UNSC non-permanent members club
The arguments in a slim compilation of essays on peace, though they do not deal specifically with the Ayodhya matter, bear upon the issues this long-running dispute is forcing us to confront.