India as a global security actor

Thanks to sustained economic growth and key investments in military capabilities, India will face growing demands from within and the international community to seek and play a greater role in global security affairs. The values and interests likely to guide India’s future behavior will be a mixture of old and new, eastern and western. India’s international aspirations have an important pre-history, covered in this chapter’s first section where non-alignment, as idea and practice, is explored for its enduring significance. India’s relevance as a security actor is assessed in terms of its activities and capacity to influence developments within two security zones of major contemporary importance: Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean. Finally, a section on the constraints and challenges examines India’s ability to navigate a multi-polar world, the fallout and gains of nuclearization, the 2008 Indo-US nuclear deal, as well as ‘the weaknesses from within’ in terms of human security

Military and Development in Bangladesh

SUMMARY This article traces the origins of the Bangladesh army back to the British East India Company's army and follows its development through the colonial period, looking at the consequences of the exclusion of Bengalis after 1857. It shows why the Bengali sections of the Pakistan army were brought to the point of revolt in the national liberation struggle of 1971, and examines the factors which inhibited the development of a people's army and people's war. The erosion of public support for the Mujib government and the 1971 takeover are discussed. It is concluded that though there were important grievances internal to the military, the economic situation was the most significant element in these events. Resume Militarisme et développement au Bangladesh Cet article attribue les origines de l'armée du Bangladesh à l'armée de la British East India Company et suit son développement au cours de la période coloniale, examinant les conséquences de l'exclusion des Bengalis, après 1857. Il démontre pourquoi les factions bengalis de l'armée pakistanaise furent au point de se révolter lors de la lutte de libération nationale de 1971, et examine les facteurs qui entravèrent le développement d'une armée populaire et d'une guerre populaire. L'érosion du soutien public pour le gouvernement Mujib et la prise de pouvoir de 1971, sont examinées. L'article conclut que, malgré l'existence de griefs considérables au sein même de l'armée, c'est à la situation économique qu'il convient d'attribuer le rôle prépondérant, dans ces événements. Resumen El militarismo y el desarrollo en Bangladesh En este artículo se investigan los orígenes del ejército de Bangladesh remontándose hasta el ejército de la Compañía británica de la India Oriental y sigue su evolución a través del período colonial, poniendo de relieve las consecuencias de la exclusión de los bengalíes después de 1857. Se indica por qué las secciones bengalíes del ejército de Pakistán casi llegaron al borde de la revuelta en la lucha de liberación nacional de 1971 y se examinan los factores que impidieron la creación de un ejército del pueblo y una guerra del pueblo. Se analizan la erosión del apoyo popular para el gobierno de Mujib y el golpe de estado de 1971. Se llega a la conclusión de que aunque existían importantes agravios internos hacia los militares, la situación económica fue el elemento más significativo de dichos acontecimientos

Jumping on the Bandwagon: Differentiation and Security Defection during Conflict

When confronted with mass uprisings, governments deploy their security forces for crowd control or repression. However, sometimes security agencies choose to side with the opposition movement. Recent work shows that “fragmentation” contributes to defection: fragmenting the security forces into parallel units leads to oversight problems and grievances among soldiers, which raises the risk of members of the security forces defecting to the opposition movement. However, I argue that the effect on defection is strongly moderated by the circumstances under which states choose to fragment their military: fragmentation for the purpose of security specialization, called “differentiation,” even decreases its risk. Employing Bayesian multilevel modeling, the findings corroborate this distinction. The study contributes to the fundamental discussion on civil–military relations, shedding light on why some conflict situations see security defections while others do not. Understanding this phenomenon is a pivotal element to explaining how conflicts develop, escalate, and end

Dominant ethnicity: from minority to majority

This article argues that the world is in the midst of a long-term transition from dominant minority to dominant majority ethnicity. Whereas minority domination was common in premodern societies, modernity (with its accent on democracy and popular sovereignty) has engendered a shift to dominant majority ethnicity. The article begins with conceptual clarifications. The second section provides a broad overview of the general patterns of ethnic dominance that derive from the logic of modern nationalism and democratisation. The third section discusses remnants of dominant minorities in the modern era and suggests that their survival hinges on peculiar historical and social circumstances coupled with resistance to democratisation. The fourth section shifts the focus to dominant majorities in the modern era and their relationship to national identities. The article ends with a discussion of the fortunes of dominant ethnicity in the West

Global Health Governance: Analyzing China, India, and Japan as Global Health Aid Donors

10.1111/j.1758-5899.2012.00173.xGlobal Policy33336-34

Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND)—Iron Review

This is the fifth in the series of reviews developed as part of the Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) program. The BOND Iron Expert Panel (I-EP) reviewed the extant knowledge regarding iron biology, public health implications, and the relative usefulness of currently available biomarkers of iron status from deficiency to overload. Approaches to assessing intake, including bioavailability, are also covered. The report also covers technical and laboratory considerations for the use of available biomarkers of iron status, and concludes with a description of research priorities along with a brief discussion of new biomarkers with potential for use across the spectrum of activities related to the study of iron in human health. The I-EP concluded that current iron biomarkers are reliable for accurately assessing many aspects of iron nutrition. However, a clear distinction is made between the relative strengths of biomarkers to assess hematological consequences of iron deficiency versus other putative functional outcomes, particularly the relationship between maternal and fetal iron status during pregnancy, birth outcomes, and infant cognitive, motor and emotional development. The I-EP also highlighted the importance of considering the confounding effects of inflammation and infection on the interpretation of iron biomarker results, as well as the impact of life stage. Finally, alternative approaches to the evaluation of the risk for nutritional iron overload at the population level are presented, because the currently designated upper limits for the biomarker generally employed (serum ferritin) may not differentiate between true iron overload and the effects of subclinical inflammation