Rajat Ganguly

Containing approximately 500 entries, this detailed Dictionary gives authoritative and up-to-date information on ethnic groups involved in conflict. Entries are provided for current ethnic hotspots, irredentist claims, secessionist movements as well as major peace accords, with clear and concise definitions given for each specific conflict.
A country profile for each of the 191 UN member states is included, detailing the current ethnic make-up, as well as the history of ethnic relations in that country, with particular emphasis on periods of hostility or violence, attempts at conflict management and signings of peace agreements. Political parties, insurgency movements, international and national organizations are listed, with contact details and internet and e-mail addresses, where available.
Current concepts, theories and policies related to ethnic conflict are also covered in detail. Among those topics listed are: autonomy, ethnic identity, genocide, internal colonialism, macedonian syndrome, secession and velvet divorce.

Key Features:
- includes both national and international disputes
- fully cross-referenced for ease of use.

This chapter analyses India's domestic politics and foreign policy, focusing particularly on how India has managed its ethnic diversity, the potent forms of ethnic unrest and insurgencies that the state has had to deal with, and the how India's growing economic and military power has impacted its foreign and security policy particularly with reference to Pakistan, China and the Western world. The chapter argues that in spite of the best intentions of the framers of the Indian Constitution, the Indian state has had to deal strongly with ethnic agitations and secessionist insurgencies in the Indian northeast, in Jammu and Kashmir and in Punjab. Some of these insurgencies are slowly winding down while some are being rekindled. The chapter also takes note of the Maoist insurgency in India and argues that under the Modi regime, harsh counterinsurgency measures and decapitation policies have resulted in defections and disarray within the Maoist ranks. This is a victory of sorts for the Indian state although the insurgency is not over by any means. Finally, the chapter argues that the end of the Cold War posed severe challenges for India's foreign and security policy. Under the changed realities of global politics, the Indian state adopted a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, which resulted in India's rise as an economic and military power. The Modi regime has further consolidated India's international standing although it has been confronted with major challenges. Most pressing of these has been the threat from Islamist forces in neighbouring states, managing hostile relations with Pakistan and China, and dealing with the consequences of the Ukraine war.

The Indian military is the world’s fourth largest after the US, Russia and China. In the immediate aftermath of India’s independence from British rule, however, it was hard to imagine that in the span of six decades, a poverty-stricken, fragmented and deeply traumatised country would emerge as a military powerhouse. How and why has this transformation taken place? Has India’s growing military prowess resulted in a more robust and adventurist foreign policy, particularly within the South Asian region? What does India’s rapid military transformation, particularly the Indian Navy, in the twenty-first century say about India’s perception of threats to national security? In this article, I argue that the Indian military’s expansion and modernisation has happened in phases, mainly as a reaction to threatening developments within the surrounding region, the evolving global strategic environment and the perceptions and decisions taken by India’s political elites. I argue, further, that as India’s military prowess and self-confidence have grown, Indian leaders have at times felt tempted to flex the military muscles, particularly in low-intensity regional conflicts, but not always with expected results. I conclude that in the twenty-first century, the Indian military, particularly the Indian Navy, is undergoing rapid expansion and transformation. This suggests that in addition to threats coming across the western and northern land borders with Pakistan and China respectively, India’s security planners envisage a growing threat to national security emanating from the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

This chapter analyses domestic politics in India, focusing on various types of ethnic conflicts that have shaped politics of the nation in recent times. It looks at the foreign policy posture of India since the early-1990s and shows how the country is using foreign policy to bolster national security and transform its military into a modern fighting force. The creeping authoritarianism in Indian politics that emerged in the early-1970s eventually criminalised the polity, politicised bureaucracy and security agencies and rode roughshod over opponents of the Congress party. Local, state and national level politicians, irrespective of party affiliations, are likely to support extremely tough, perhaps even brutal, forms of response by security forces. Political turmoil in Russia and the former Soviet space resulted in unreliable defence supplies, which adversely affected India’s military whose weapons were predominantly Soviet-made. India must use its foreign policy skilfully to deal effectively with myriad threats to national security in an uncertain, turbulent and rapidly changing world.

After nearly 30 years in power, the Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt, considered by many to be the strongest in the Arab world, collapsed suddenly in February 2011 after a mere 18 days of street protests. In this article, we try to explain the puzzling collapse of the Mubarak regime using regime transition theory. We argue that the Mubarak regime’s collapse came about as a result of four key developments, none of which were sufficient to cause the regime’s collapse, but when coalesced together exposed the regime’s lack of coercive and persuasive powers, thereby hastening its demise. We conclude that regime transition theory, developed to explain the third wave of democratisations in the 1970s and 1980s, is still relevant in explaining transitions from authoritarian rule.