| Uzbekistan casts out America |
On 29 July 2005, the government of Uzbekistan served an eviction notice on the US embassy in Tashkent, terminating America’s military presence at its Karshi-Khanabad (K-2) airbase with around six months’ notice. It seems likely that the US could emerge from this ostensible setback with a revised but paradoxically enhanced position in the Central Asian–Caspian security complex: freed of the need to sustain a controversial Uzbek government, still able to assist the establishment of a functioning state in Afghanistan, but with greater access to, and sway over, regional hydrocarbon resources.Full text & PDF (free to all users) >>> |
| Chinese missile aid for Indonesia |
In July 2005, China agreed, as part of a new strategic partnership with Jakarta, to provide technological assistance to Indonesia’s efforts to develop indigenous missiles with ranges of up to 150km. This highlights the nascent military dimension to Beijing’s attempts to intensify its politico-security links in Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s willingness to enter into such cooperation with China has been motivated by narrower considerations: collaboration could yield benefits for Indonesia’s struggling defence industry; and it might usefully highlight the potentially counterproductive nature of the continuing US arms embargo on Indonesia. Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>> |
| Iran and its neighbours |
For Iran’s immediate neighbours the question of whether and when Tehran will possess nuclear weapons is one that weighs heavily. Although some might be comforted by projections suggesting that it would take Iran years to acquire a weapons capability, others will view such an interval as a valuable opportunity to adjust military and diplomatic strategies to the possibility of a radical alteration in the regional military balance.Full text & PDF (subscribers only) >>>Buy this article online >>> |
| India's naval posture |
In July–August 2005, India’s first aircraft carrier-led deployment to Southeast Asia took place. The initiative was indicative of the degree to which Asia now occupies an increasingly important place in India’s naval outlook. Its maritime doctrine, published in April 2004, conceives of the arc from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca as a legitimate area of political, military and economic interest. The Indian Navy’s prompt relief assistance to neighbouring states in the wake of the tsunami of December 2004, meanwhile, increased its confidence about undertaking a larger role in the maintenance of regional stability. The key to the Indian Navy’s new engagement of Asia lies in its assessments of and interactions with the US and Chinese navies. |
| China's changing military |
China’s fourth biannual Defence White Paper, published in December 2004, and the Pentagon’s eighth annual report to Congress on ‘Selected Military Capabilities of the People’s Republic of China’, issued in July, provide a good general picture of China’s security strategy, the types and estimated numbers of weapon systems currently in its military inventory, and what systems might feature in future. But there is a need also to better understand the administrative and operational structure of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is an important determinant of military effectiveness. Significant change here has been underway at most levels. |
