Last month’s announcement of India’s national budget found the country increasing its defense expenditure by 19% with 40% delegated for capital acquisitions. This has put India’s defense spending at the comparatively high figure of approximately $38.5-billion USD. The spending i

By: Kavita Bapat The advancements to the drug trade made by the Mexican Zeta cartel in Guatemala have turned the nation into more than just a way station for drugs travelling from Colombia to the US. Guatemala is increasingly becoming a storehouse and staging area for drugs awaiting s

By: Kavita Bapat On 8 December, Mexican police seized 205 tons of drug precursor chemicals at the bustling Lazaro Cardenas port. The chemicals originated in China and were destined for Guatemala’s Puerto Quetzal, one of the world’s busiest intersections for illegal drugs. Guatemal

By: Kavita Bapat Friday 18 November marked a decisive shift in Burma’s long-isolated  history, as its main opposition leader Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, agreed to rejoin the country’s political system and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the first high-ranking Am

By: Kavita Bapat A decade ago, an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, attempted to plan for the future of the war-torn country. At that time, aspirations for a successful transfer of power in Afghanistan, as well as for security and the development of human right

By: Kavita Bapat On 4 October, India and Afghanistan signed a significant partnership pact agreeing to increase cooperation on counterterrorism efforts, the training of security forces, and boosting trade relations. Though the pact is a considerable step forward for the India-Afghanis

By: Kavita Bapat In July Canada began the process of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan after nearly a decade of engagement in the war torn country. In the early days of the Afghan conflict Canada contributed troops to Joint Task Force 2 with the aim of routing out remaining Taliban

By: Kavita Bapat In recent years, Pakistan has faced an internal and external security dilemma concerning an asymmetric balance of power between the nation’s military complex and its government. The Pakistani army is by and large considered the most influential governing national in

By: Kavita Bapat With the drawdown of NATO troops from Afghanistan this summer, questions have been raised about South Asia’s long-term security and stability. In particular, international concern has shifted towards neighbouring Pakistan, which has quickly become South Asia’s ter

By: Kavita Bapat. Taliban leader Mullah Mohamad Omar was a recluse even before the fall of the Taliban government in late 2001. It is therefore no surprise that along with his comrades, he has eluded capture by western coalition forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the past 10 years