The U.S Rebalance and the Asia-Pacific Region

by Centre for Public Policy Research, Centre for Strategic Studies

Given the strategic emergence of the Asia Pacific region there has been a significant rethinking on the need to develop and strengthen relationships within the region and also with the United States. Therefore its becomes important to analyze how the regional powers will position themselves vis-a-vis the United States and how they would respond to the rebalancing initiative. CPPR – Centre for Strategic Studies provided a platform for prominent strategists, think tank analysts, leading experts and academicians to discuss, debate and map the future US role in the Asia Pacific, in its 2 day international conference on U.S Rebalance and the Asia Pacific region.

Energy Security Challenges

by Centre for Public Policy Research

2015 · Centre for Public Policy Research

The International conference on Energy Security Challenges–Non Traditional Security planning in India was yet another attempt by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), to focus on one of the most challenging themes of current times. Given its global outlook and ramifications, energy security demands an integrated approach and strategic positioning, especially for a country such as India.Several factors have contributed to the unprecedented predominance that the energy security debate has achieved in international dialogue and diplomacy: the growth of new economic power centres; the fluctuating price of fossil fuels over the last three years; global warming due to climate change; the threat of terrorism, instability in some exporting nations; power blackouts and chronic shortages of power in several countries. Power blackouts have occurred on the east and west coasts of the United States, in Europe and in Russia while chronic shortages of electric power are being faced by China, India and other developing countries.Given the fundamental need for energy to fuel a country’s economic growth, these power crises have caused concern not only about the reliability of electricity supply systems, but also raised fears of a scramble for energy supplies and heightened geopolitical rivalries. Thus the situation at the global level does not seem very positive. However, there have been attempts by several countries to streamline and reassert state control by installing new transportation channels and pipelines, hoping to offset the stark scarcity of their domestic resources through diversification, trade and investment in the energy sector.“Energy independence” is a phrase that has become a mantra since it was first articulated by Richard Nixon four weeks after the 1973 oil embargo was put in place. This national aspiration had long been at odds with reality for the United States. The real mood and the state of the nation was captured by President Obama in 2009 when he stated, “At a time of such great challenge for America, no single issue is as fundamental to our future as energy” In recent years, new energy suppliers, technological developments like hydraulic fracturing and the US shale gas boom have redrawn the global energy scenario and caused significant geopolitical shifts.That energy issues are fundamental to India’s future is an undeniable fact. The country’s energy imports come at the cost of 7% of its GDP and is more often ruptured by the country’s balance of payment, which takes an ugly turn with the fluctuations in the energy market.India, the world’s fourth largest energy consumer, imports 80% of its crude oil and 25% of its natural gas requirements. Around 600 million Indians do not have access to electricity and about 700 million Indians use biomass as their primary energy source for cooking, according to Indian Government sources. India’s energy demand is expected to become more than double, from below 700 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) in 2013 to around 1,500 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2035, according to estimates made by the oil ministry. Hence, the issue of energy security is undoubtedly a major concern for India as well as the United States.

National Security Management in Federal Structures

by Centre for Public Policy Research

2015 · Centre for Public Policy Research

Beliefs about security are based on threat perceptions in the environment. Assessing security is a cognitive process based on the repertoire of beliefs that make up a person’s subjective view of reality. The issue of security can, therefore be considered in political, societal, and economic terms. Changing security beliefs are based on global trajectories and the realignment of transnational environments. For the last two decades, the international community has been concerned by the emergence of non-state actors waging war against the state in ways hitherto unknown in conventional warfare. Widespread transnational terrorism and other anti-national movements have spurred the need to reconcile national security concepts and perspectives, in order to enable domestic development, growth and harmony. India has been a victim of various kinds of security threats, both internal and external. The United States of America has also faced major security threats, which reached new proportions with the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In strategic terms, international cooperation is vital to fight terrorism. India and the USA, being among the world’s largest democracies with strong federal structures, have great potential to work together and collaborate effectively to combat such threats. With these considerations in mind, the CPPR-Centre for Strategic Studies decided to conduct its first international conference on ‘’National Security Management in Federal Structures: Perspectives from India and the United States.’’ The focus was on the federal framework of the two countries and the best way forward to tackle security issues in the emerging political and economic scenarios at the federal level. The themes and deliberations of this conference highlighted the significance of national security in federal structures. The participants examined current Indo-US policies and threw light on new security dimensions, both from an academic as well as a practitioner’s perspective. This book is a compilation of the resource proceedings of the Conference which has been contributed by eminent strategists, academicians, policy makers etc.

Conceptualizing Security for India in the 21st Century

by National Centre of International Security and Defence Analysis (Pune, India). Conference, Gautam Sen

2007 · Atlantic Publishers & Dist

The Present Volume Is An Anthology Of Papers Presented In The First Nisda Security Conference In 2005 With Interdisciplinary Contributions From A Variety Of Professionals From Government Organization, Academics And Researchers On The Common Theme Of Conceptualizing The Notion Of Security In The 21St Century. It Entails A Multi-Pronged Input From Organizational, Bureaucratic And Academic Perspectives To Look At In A Focused Way The Indo-Centric View Towards The National And International Security Matters. It Is Hoped That The Volume Will Be Useful To The Policymakers As Well As The Students Of International Relations And International Security.