My work at the Transatlantic Academy (German Marshall Fund)

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For the duration of the next academic year, I will be working as a Research Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy, a wing of the German Marshall Fund, based in Washington DC.
Here is a link to their website, soon to include the revised list of research fellows for 2010-2011:

http://www.transatlanticacademy.org/

Our theme of study this year is entitled: "Global Shift: The Transatlantic Community and the new Global Politics", and will delve into the implications, whether economic, institutional or purely geopolitical, of the advent of a post-western world, in which Asia has become the new centre of gravity.




We will be working on a collective project, which should take the form of a book published at the end of the year, and each one of us will also be working on our own individual research projects.

As I am much more of a classical security specialist than anything else, I will be exploring themes such as the Sino-US balance of power in the Western Pacific, Sino-Indian relations, territorial tensions in the South and East China Seas etc. Keep checking this blog for GMF and Transatlantic Academy website pieces, interventions in workshops and conferences, as well as maybe one or two articles I may try and get published in academic journals.



My individual research project for the Academy is entitled:

Sino-Indian naval expansion and the transformation of the Asian maritime arena: strategic options and ramifications for the transatlantic community in the XXIst Century.

I will be asking myself questions such as the following:

• Why has Asia displaced the West as a primary hub of maritime activity?
• What are the current and projected force structures of the Chinese and Indian Navies?
• Why are both nations, traditionally continental powers, turning seaward?
• As both navies expand and 'overlap' their areas of operation, how will they manage their growing maritime rivalry?
• How can China, for example, tend to its energy security concerns, to its so-called Malacca dilemma, without India feeling it is falling prey to a form of maritime encirclement?
• How will Sino-Indian maritime rivalry profoundly restructure the Asian security architecture?
• And finally, as Asia's great powers expand their navies, why are Western powers seemingly scaling back their maritime ambitions? Three case studies will be examined: the British Royal Navy, the French Marine Nationale, and the US Navy, particularly with regard to the question of the increasingly delicate balance of power in the Taiwan Strait and WPTO in general.

So if you're interested in these issues, keep following this blog, as they should be discussed in greater depth and posted here very soon.


Finally, I just wanted to draw your attention to a great blog I recently discovered which deals with European strategic culture and security policies. It really is worth a visit, as whereas much has been written on US or 'Western' power and strategic thought, little quality work is easily available on more specifically the European Union's 'hard power' perspectives. I am hoping that we at the Academy will be able to link up with the researchers behind the blog and give birth to a fruitful collaboration.

Here is the link:

http://europeangeostrategy.ideasoneurope.eu/

Deflecting the Assassin's Mace: The Pentagon's New AirSea Battle Concept and its Strategic Relevance to India.

First of all I must apologize for the long leave of absence. I returned from India in mid-July, took two to three weeks off and then was busy preparing my departure for the States (more on that soon). Here is a piece, however, that I published in June and forgot to put up here. As it is quite meaty, I have provided the link rather than reproduce the entire article here. It deals with AirSea Battle, the latest major innovation in American strategic thought when it comes to offsetting Chinese anti-access and area denial strategies in the Western Pacific.



Here is the summary:

AirSea Battle, the latest brainchild of the Pentagon, may seem far removed from the Indian military’s preoccupations. After all, India has only just initiated its transition to network-centric warfare, and the conflict scenarios it faces in the Indian Ocean Region do not seem to bear much resemblance to those currently rippling through the WPTO. Nevertheless, Indian strategists may well find that many of the tactical quandaries faced today by the US carrier fleets cruising through the Asia Pacific are destined to become those of the Indian Navy in the not-too-distant future. Pakistan’s troubling mimicry of Chinese naval strategy, whether it be through its emphasis on A2/AD or on subsurface warfare, would indicate that it too will attempt in time to offset India’s growing conventional and technological edge by brandishing its own “assassin’s mace”. Hopefully, by then, India will have devised its own AirSea Battle concept, enabling it to parry the blow and reassert sea control.


And, if you're still interested, here is the link:

http://www.idsa.in/issuebrief/AirSeaBattleConceptanditsRelevancetoIndia_irehman_070710