Indian Strategic Studies: 12/26/24

26 December 2024

The Role of BRICS in India’s Foreign Policy

Paola Andrea Baroni

The 21st century is witnessing a decentralisation of global power, with a transition of its axis towards Asia. This allows for a multipolar and multilateral system that leads to the development of emerging powers. At the same time, the concept of the Global South is gaining strength by promoting a South-South dialogue. Countries such as India, in the process of economic growth and development, have priorities and challenges such as food and energy security, climate change, digital transformation, inflation, and financial viability, among others, which make India the voice of the Global South. For India, it is important to reform the international system to make it more equitable and representative of new realities. In this sense, India is a country that converges with the West in terms of strategic goals and values and, at the same time, has deep roots in the Global South.

One of the changes observed in India is a greater predisposition to different alignment options than in the past, as it is understood not in purely ideological terms but in its more pragmatic role as a regional power. Ian Hall argues that multi-alignment is India’s chosen strategy to protect its interests and ideals in the current international system, and that this strategy involves addressing national security challenges; promoting its values; stimulating economic development, and projecting its influence. It also emphasises engagement with multilateral fora and organisations – regional and international – and the use of bilateral strategic partnerships. While this concept may appear opportunistic to some, in reality India seeks strategic convergence. This conception is compatible with India’s traditional policy of strategic autonomy. This can be defined as a nation’s ability and desire to make independent foreign policy decisions to pursue its core national interests, unconstrained by other states. This dates back to Cold War times, and is synthesised as a combination of realism and non-alignment. In this way, India seeks not to favour any particular power.

Assessing the Nature of India's Critical Minerals Vulnerabilities vis-à-vis China

Rakshith Shetty

Introduction

Critical minerals are essential for India's economic development, particularly in the rapidly expanding sectors of clean energy, smart technologies and advanced manufacturing. India’s ambitious renewable energy targets, its push to become a global manufacturing hub for clean technologies, and its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 necessitate a reliable and sustainable supply of these minerals.

Given the importance of these minerals, the government has taken a step towards identifying minerals critical to India's growth. The ‘Report of the Committee on Identification of Critical Minerals,’ published by the Ministry of Mines in June 2023, announced a list of 30 critical minerals (Refer Table 1) deemed essential for India’s economic growth and national security. The report emphasised the strategic importance of securing a sustainable and resilient supply chain for critical minerals, and highlighted the need to develop competitive value chains within India for critical minerals. It also acknowledged India's heavy reliance on imports for certain minerals, with some elements exhibiting 100% import dependency.

While the Indian government has taken proactive steps to identify critical mineral needs, the global landscape of critical mineral supply chains presents significant challenges, particularly due to China's dominant position in the market. China’s dominance stems from its extensive investments in mining, processing, and refining capabilities, coupled with its strategic control over resources in several countries.

India’s Bangladesh conundrum

SEEMA SENGUPTA

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s Dhaka visit came at a critical moment in the history of India-Bangladesh relationship. The imprisonment of a Hindu monk and reported persecution of minorities, triggering a downward spiral in an otherwise healthy association between the two neighbours, has set alarm bells ringing in India. Though tension has been intensifying, Md Touhid Hossain, adviser for foreign affairs to Bangladesh’s interim government, remains upbeat about overcoming the impasse in the relationship. “Establishing mutual communication and meeting each other is very important to overcome any such stalemate,” Hossain had asserted during a SAARC seminar in Dhaka.

When Hasina, Bangladesh’s longest-serving premier and daughter of the country’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was airlifted out of Dhaka for a safe asylum in India on 5 August, the world was left awestruck. While Bangladesh is used to witnessing political upheaval since its foundation days, who could have ever imagined that the same lady, known to be a champion of democracy, egalitarianism and justice, and who breathed life into the country’s once fragile economy, would suddenly become the youths’ greatest adversary? “This turmoil is unlikely to be for the last time,” Colonel Pradeep Saxena, a decorated Indian veteran of the 1971 war who was physically present in Dhaka during the 16 December surrender ceremony, had declared prophetically while discussing Bangladesh’s likely plunge into religious extremism. “That it has happened after a decade and a half of peace and political stability during which Bangladesh became an emerging producer of garments is worrisome,” lamented the retired Army Colonel.

A dam ignited rare Tibetan protests. They ended in beatings and arrests, BBC finds

Tessa Wong

Hundreds of Tibetans protesting against a Chinese dam were rounded up in a harsh crackdown earlier this year, with some beaten and seriously injured, the BBC has learnt from sources and verified footage.

Such protests are extremely rare in Tibet, which China has tightly controlled since it annexed the region in the 1950s. That they still happened highlights China's controversial push to build dams in what has long been a sensitive area.

Claims of the arrests and beatings began trickling out shortly after the events in February. In the following days authorities further tightened restrictions, making it difficult for anyone to verify the story, especially journalists who cannot freely travel to Tibet.

But the BBC has spent months tracking down Tibetan sources whose family and friends were detained and beaten. BBC Verify has also examined satellite imagery and verified leaked videos which show mass protests and monks begging the authorities for mercy.

The sources live outside of China and are not associated with activist groups. But they did not wish to be named for safety reasons.

In response to our queries, the Chinese embassy in the UK did not confirm nor deny the protests or the ensuing crackdown.

Pakistan’s Diplomatic Dilemma in Global Affairs - Opinion

Muhammad Rauhan Rasheed

Earlier this year, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali schooled a BBC journalist, challenging the developed world’s double standards when questioned about Guyana’s plans for oil drilling amidst the climate crisis. In a display of controlled anger, the President asked the journalist about his right to lecture a country that has kept extensive forests alive, benefiting the world without receiving any value in return. This incident is neither the first time Western media has targeted the Global South for their attempts to emerge from the Global North’s dependency nor is it the first time a leader from the Global South has pushed back against Western hypocrisy. However, this instance has resonated with citizens of the Global South who feel silenced by the West’s condescending approach.

Among these citizens are individuals like myself, who belong to an economically crises-ridden state, Pakistan. Despite being a nuclear power and having years of service for superpowers such as China and especially the U.S., Pakistan constantly finds itself obliged to meet the demands of the Global North. Amid the economic dependency on IMF loans and various countries that view Pakistan as an economic basket case, perpetually pleading for assistance, Pakistanis are desperate for any sign of courage from their leadership. They long for moments, however brief, where their spineless leadership stands up to the West and gives them a taste of their own medicine when Pakistan is ridiculed on the global stage. There’s no denying that Pakistan’s insecurities and weaknesses in various sectors have contributed to this submissive behaviour. Yet, any proud nation must exhibit some backbone when taken for granted and expected to comply at every turn. Nowadays, countries across the Global South are beginning to push back despite their limited capacity to act. They are constantly highlighting Western injustices; however, when the current Pakistani PM, Shehbaz Sharif, openly calls its citizens beggars for seeking foreign loans, there is only bleak hope left that the nation’s pride can be preserved.

Taliban Infighting Adds To Afghanistan’s Woes – Analysis

Luke Coffey

The Taliban’s de facto minister of refugees and repatriation, Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, was killed along with five others in a bomb explosion in Kabul last week. This marked the first time since the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021 that a senior member of the group had been assassinated.

Haqqani’s assassination is significant not only because of his role in the Taliban, but also due to his family connections. He was the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current de facto interior minister and senior leader of the Haqqani Network. During the early days after the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, Khalil Haqqani was responsible for the city’s security, making him a difficult target. His nephew oversees Afghanistan’s internal security, adding another layer of complexity to targeting the Haqqani family in Kabul.

While Daesh immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the situation may not be so straightforward. In the past, Daesh has been known to claim responsibility for attacks it had no part in to boost its image. A more plausible explanation is that this was an inside job, reflecting the fractured nature of the Taliban.

Will China Take Over the Global Auto Industry?

Brad W. Setser

Massive, and Growing, Capacity

China has, according to the New York Times, the capacity to produce over 40 million internal combustion engine (ICE) cars a year.

Goldman Sachs thinks China will also have the capacity to produce around 20 million electric vehicles by the end of 2024. It should have the capacity to produce something close 25 million EVs by late 2025, as production is currently increasing by close to 4 million cars a year and Chinese firms continue to invest heavily.

As the New York Times story makes clear, China now has an incredible—and I would argue unprecedented—capacity to supply over half the global market for cars, which is typically around 90 million cars a year.

China’s internal market is around 25 million cars, and not really growing—so rising domestic EV sales progressively frees up internal combustion engine capacity for export. Domestic demand for traditional cars is likely to be well under 10 million cars next year given the enormous shift toward EVs now underway inside China.

Chinese national cyber centre says U.S. hacks stole trade secrets from tech firm

China's national internet emergency response centre said on Wednesday it had found and dealt with two incidents of U.S. cyber attacks on Chinese tech firms to "steal trade secrets" since May 2023.

The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Centre of China (CNCERT/CC) said in a statement published on its website that an advanced materials design and research unit and a large-scale high-tech company focused on intelligent energy and digital information were "suspected of being attacked by a U.S. intelligence agency", without naming the agency.

The hacks led to the theft of "a large amount of trade secrets" in both cases, said CNCERT/CC, which says it is a non-governmental technical centre that serves as China's "national computer emergency response team", with the aim of preventing and detecting cybersecurity threats to the country.

After years of being accused by Western governments of cyberattacks and industrial espionage, in the past two years several Chinese organisations and government organs have accused the United States and its allies of similar behaviour.

The Father of Chinese Authoritarianism Has a Message for America

Chang Che

When Russian and Chinese élites talk about history, they often mean “History”—the grand Hegelian march toward progress. Since the end of the Cold War, the East has lived with the undignified thesis, popularized by Francis Fukuyama’s 1989 essay “The End of History?,” that democracy had defeated the authoritarian alternatives of the twentieth century. That idea has not aged well. According to a European survey of more than two hundred countries, 2022 was the first time in two decades that closed autocracies outnumbered liberal democracies in the world. Americans have become unreliable underwriters of the international order. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has incited Europe’s largest conflict since the Second World War and China’s Xi Jinping is remaking global institutions in his own image, bereft of democratic values. When Xi visited the Kremlin in March, 2023, a little over a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, he told Putin that the world was changing in ways “we haven’t seen in a hundred years.” “Let’s drive those changes together,” he said. Putin, hands outstretched, nodded. “I agree.”

The Inflection Point in the China-Russia Axis

Andrew Scobell, Ph.D.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has catalyzed a profound shift in global power dynamics: the deepening of the partnership between China and Russia. This relationship, while rooted in history, represents a significant departure from previous patterns of cooperation. China-Russia ties have evolved from a transactional relationship of convenience to a more durable strategic alignment, while continuing to fall short of a full-blown military alliance. This development challenges traditional Western assumptions about the limits of authoritarian cooperation and may signal the emergence of a new model of international partnership.

China’s assistance to Russia has arguably prolonged the war, awakened NATO and the EU to the dangers of the China-Russia axis, and forced Brussels and other capitals to take stronger measures against Beijing and Moscow than anyone could have anticipated. The cooperation between China and Russia, as well as North Korea and Iran, has deepened in ways that few would have thought possible before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Syria’s Civil War: The Descent Into Horror

Zachary Laub

Thirteen years after protesters in Syria first demonstrated against the four-decade rule of the Assad family, a rapid assault by rebel fighters in late 2024 succeeded in toppling one of the world’s most despotic regimes. Bashar al-Assad’s abrupt ouster and replacement by an Islamist-led transitional government has been greeted with both joy and caution.

The country’s protracted civil war saw hundreds of thousands of Syrians killed and nearly fourteen million people—more than half the prewar population—displaced. Today, Syria remains a deeply impoverished and fractured state, large parts of its territory controlled by different armed groups with varying affiliations with foreign powers. Iran, Israel, Turkey, Russia, and the United States were all drawn into the conflict either directly or indirectly over the years.

This narrative chronology explains how Syria’s civil war morphed from small acts of anti-Assad defiance to one of the deadliest and most complex wars of the twenty-first century.

Assads’ Rule Breeds Discontent

Hafez al-Assad seized control from a Baathist military junta in 1970, centralizing power in the presidency. He came from the Alawi minority, a heterodox Shia sect that had long been persecuted in Syria and was elevated to privileged positions under the post–World War I French mandate. Syria has long been and remains a Sunni majority country.

The Road Out of Chaos in Syria

Robert D. Kaplan

“Chaos,” wrote Albert Camus, constitutes “a form of servitude.” That is why true freedom must be a search for order. Yet, because order itself can be unjust and extreme, there is always the impetus to topple it. Camus writes in his greatest book, The Rebel, published in 1951, that ever since the mythical Prometheus rose up against Zeus in the deserts of Scythia, revolt has been a distinguishing characteristic of man. And since it is not enough to topple a regime unless one has planned a new and better order to replace it, Camus devotes an entire book to the morality of revolt.

“When the throne of God is overturned, the rebel realizes that it is now his own responsibility to create the justice, order, and unity … and in this way to justify the fall of God.” Camus’ reference to God is secular since when an authoritarian regime maintains a choke hold over its own people, it is usurping the role of God. A people, therefore, can be enslaved twice: first by the regime and second by the anarchy that succeeds its toppling. That is why the celebration of revolt in and of itself, without an idea of what follows, can be narcissistic.

Immediate Ceasefire in Ukraine Is a Double-Edged Sword - Opinion

Jinghao Zhou

Donald Trump has claimed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. He now calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the beginning of negotiations. However, history shows that what cannot be achieved on the battlefield is unlikely to be obtained at the negotiating table. Immediate ceasefire of the Ukraine war could be a double-edged sword for the United States under the current circumstances. Russia occupies significant Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and parts of Zaporizhzhia, amounting to approximately 18% of Ukraine’s territory. Ukraine has made incursions into the Russian regions of Belgorod and Bryansk, only amounting to less than 1% of Russia’s total territory. How can both sides achieve their goals at the negotiating table?

Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg suggests ending the war by halting weapon supplies to Ukraine if it refuses to engage in peace talks — and increasing weapon deliveries to Ukraine if Russia fails to do the same. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested the possibility of negotiating a cease-fire deal with Russia, proposing that the status of occupied territories could be addressed diplomatically at a later stage. This reflects Ukraine’s constrained position under various pressures. Russia is open to a peace talk but is unlikely to make a huge compromise with Ukraine.

Despite NATO’s extensive support, sufficient military resources such as ammunition and air defense systems have not been provided to enable Ukraine to effectively counter Russian advances and produce decisive outcomes in strategic offensives due to unclear strategic objectives and effective implementation measures.

Not So Bad After All: How US Foreign Policy Could Navigate a Multipolar World

Mark N. Katz

If there ever really was a unipolar world dominated by the U.S. in the years after the end of the Cold War, it certainly is not in existence now. A multipolar world is emerging instead. This emerging multipolar world is one in which the U.S. is seen as less powerful than it was during the unipolar era, and in which anti-American powers–including China, Russia, and some of their partners–are seen as gaining ground against the U.S. and its allies. Even some of the U.S.’s longstanding partners such as Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are undertaking assertive actions and cooperating with one or more of Washington’s adversaries. While most of America’s Western allies have joined the U.S. in aiding Ukraine and sanctioning Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, most “Global South” governments have not done so. Further, incoming President Trump and many Republicans in Congress openly question the value to the U.S. of the alliance relationships built up by previous presidents and even the terms under which the U.S. should continue to uphold them.

Yet while the U.S. may now be less influential than it appeared during the unipolar moment, the U.S. very much remains a great power in the emerging multipolar world. Furthermore, the U.S. may have some opportunities in navigating this multipolar world that it did not have (or had less of) during its unipolar moment or during the preceding bipolar Cold War era. Why is this? In a multipolar world, great powers have the opportunity to engage in buck-passing.

The Invisible Russia-Ukraine Battlefield

Justin Ling

Above the bar at a small brewpub in Užupis, a hip neighborhood in Vilnius, Lithuania, hangs a portrait of a Madonna-like saint cradling a weapon—something between a rifle, a bazooka, and a 5G antenna.

The caption below reads: “Saint EDM4S.”

EDM4S—or Electronic Drone Mitigation 4 System—is a portable electronic-warfare weapon from Lithuania. Point the EDM4S at a hovering uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) and pull the trigger: The drone should lose contact with its operator and fall inertly from the sky.

Hundreds of EDM4S systems have been donated to Ukraine over the past two years. They are just one weapon in an unseen, and under-appreciated, battle for control of the electromagnetic spectrum. Powering this battle is a furious arms race. Ukraine and its allies on one side, Russia on the other. Both sides are trying to innovate better ways to spoof, jam, and disrupt enemy communications, particularly drones, while simultaneously working to harden their own systems against hostile signals.

Why the US Military Can't Just Shoot Down the Mystery Drones

Jared Keller

A spectre is haunting the United States—the spectre of drone warfare.

Since the middle of November, unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles have lit up the skies above New Jersey, startling residents and baffling military and government officials. The US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal research and manufacturing facility in the state’s Morris County reported 11 confirmed instances of mysterious drones illegally entering its airspace since the middle of the month, while a dozen drones were spotted hovering over US Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County in early December. Similar sightings were reported in at least six other counties throughout the state; according to the Coast Guard, a group of drones even followed one of the service’s vessels “in close pursuit” near a state park.

The spate of drone sightings in the skies above New Jersey have caused alarm among state lawmakers, prompting one to call for a “limited state of emergency … until the public receives an explanation” regarding the source of the unidentified drones. One Republican US congressman even claimed the drones were originating from an Iranian “mothership” lurking off of the state’s coastline, an assertion the US Defense Department quickly batted down.

Ukraine is droning on

Fabian Hoffmann

Ending the year with a missile bang. In recent weeks, Ukraine has announced several previously undisclosed missile projects. Combined with the missile systems already known to be in Ukraine's arsenal and the projects previously known to be under development, this provides decent insights into the missile arsenal Ukraine is planning to deploy in the future.

This post reviews Ukraine's ongoing missile projects. Please note that this analysis is based entirely on publicly available information, meaning classified capability profiles may differ.

Ukraine’s new missile programs

Ruta

The Ruta is a cruise missile project with a reported range of 300 km and a top speed of 800 km/h (Mach 0.65). Digital renderings and models displayed at industry events show an air inlet, suggesting that the missile uses an air-breathing engine, likely a turbojet. It is reported to support various 30–100 kg payloads, including reconnaissance payloads, conventional warheads, and inert payloads for testing purposes. The missile employs inertial and GPS guidance for midcourse navigation but has not been announced to include terminal guidance, although this capability could be added in the future.

Killing of Russian General Sends a Message, but Doesn’t Change the War

Michael Schwirtz

Ukraine’s brazen assassination of a Russian general on a Moscow street this week was a triumph for Ukraine’s intelligence services, showcasing a decade’s worth of investment in developing the skills, technology and ingenuity needed to operate successfully behind enemy lines in wartime.

But it was a limited triumph.

Killing the general, Igor Kirillov, 54, will no doubt enrage the Kremlin and spread a degree of fear among the country’s military and political elites, military experts said. It also eliminates a top military leader, who, according to Ukrainian officials, had ordered the use of banned chemical substances against Ukrainian troops.

What it will not do, according to Western officials and experts, is improve Kyiv’s position in its war with Russia. On the battlefield, Ukraine’s forces continue to steadily lose ground to their larger and better-equipped adversaries. On Tuesday, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukrainian forces, said active fighting was occurring along more than 700 miles of the front line, including major Russian offensive operations in several regions.

Russia’s Next Moves – Missile threats and cyber escalation

George Allison

Dr Patricia Lewis, former Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House, offered a detailed response, outlining possible future moves by Russia to escalate tensions and test Western resolve.

Dr Lewis highlighted the broader context of NATO’s response to the conflict, describing a “very sensitive calibration” within NATO nations, particularly the United States, since early 2022. This careful balance aimed to ensure the war was not perceived as a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

“That calibration was what was holding back air defences, combat aircraft, long-range missiles and allowing deep strikes into Russian territory,” she explained. However, she noted that this boundary has since shifted, stating: “That red line has been broken, but there are still some big issues about that.”

In response to Thomas’s question, Lewis identified several potential actions Russia might take to disrupt Western support for Ukraine. She predicted increased use of the Oreshnik missile, a weapon that poses a significant challenge due to its speed, range, and the absence of effective countermeasures.

“I think that we will see more use of the Oreshnik missile to frighten—there are no defences against it—in a conventional capability,” she explained. While Russia has used other dual-capable weapons throughout the war, the Oreshnik’s specific capabilities make it particularly concerning.

Navigating Offensive and Defensive Approaches in Great Power Competition

Monte Erfourth

Introduction

For the United States, maintaining its position as the preeminent global superpower—one that enforces an international order rooted in liberal democratic norms—is both a daunting and vital national security objective. The challenge lies not merely in the preparation for war but in the daily task of operating within an evolving geopolitical environment. This requires military strategists to think beyond traditional notions of offense and defense, balancing competing imperatives to sustain and strengthen the global status quo while attempting to get beyond the reactionary mode of countering rivals exploiting methods below the armed conflict threshold. The challenge of our geopolitical times is maintaining or improving the status quo while not assuming a complacent defensive stance.

The Static Burden of Dominance

The United States’ dominant position at the top of the international hierarchy necessitates a unique approach to strategy. Unlike rising powers such as China and Russia, which seek to challenge and reshape the order, the U.S. must focus on preserving its gains and deterring disruptions to the existing system. This creates a somewhat static posture, requiring a mix of vigilance and adaptability. A purely defensive strategy risks ceding initiative to adversaries, while an overly aggressive approach could provoke unnecessary conflicts or overextend U.S. resources.

Why Do You Think the Killing of a Health Care C.E.O. Has Sparked Such an Intense National Conversation?

Katherine Schulten

If you live in the United States, you have almost certainly heard the news about the killing of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, along with the hunt for his killer and the arrest of a suspect.

As The Times writes, this story “has mesmerized a deeply polarized nation that shares a collective frustration over dealings with health insurance companies.”

Have you, too, been mesmerized by this news? If so, why?

In the Dec. 10 article “Reaction to C.E.O. Killing Exposes Frustrations With Health System,” Dionne Searcey and Sarah Kliff report: On social media, some people have cheered for the gunman and expressed little remorse over the death of Mr. Thompson, 50, a father of two boys from Maple Grove, Minn., with some painting him as the villain in a national health care crisis.

And now that the identity of the suspect, Luigi Mangione, 26, has been revealed and more photos of him have emerged, he is being defended or even applauded in some circles.

Ukraine Is Using Millions of Hours of Drone Footage to Train AI for Warfare

Thomas Maxwell

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict marks possibly the first truly AI war, with both sides having come to rely on small drones to conduct reconnaissance, identify targets, and even drop lethal bombs over enemy lines. This new type of warfare allows commanders to survey an area from a safe distance and has highlighted the importance of lightweight aerial weapons that can conduct precise strikes instead of much more expensive fighter jets. One drone that costs $15,000 can take down a F-16 that costs tens of millions.

Reuters has a look at how Ukraine has been collecting vast sums of video footage from drones to improve the effectiveness of its drone battalions.

The story includes an interview with Oleksandr Dmitriev, founder of OCHI, a non-profit Ukrainian system that centralizes and analyzes video from over 15,000 drones on the frontlines. Dmitriev told Reuters that the system has collected more than two million hours of battlefield video since 2022. “This is food for the AI: If you want to teach an AI, you give it 2 million hours (of video), it will become something supernatural,” he said.

Political Violence and Terrorism in Cyberspace

Mariano Varesano

The digital revolution and the introduction of the World Wide Web are some of the most significant and impactful global phenomena of the past three decades. The consequences of increasing global networked connectivity branch out into every aspect of daily life and international politics at such a speed that they are often elusive, both for the policy analyst and the policymaker. One of the (relatively) less explored areas of the digital revolution concerns the relationship between cyberspace[1] and political violence, with particular reference to instances in which digital tools are not facilitators of violent action but are its very ends, as well as the means through which it is perpetrated. Understanding the theoretical and practical possibility of cyberterrorism is precisely the purpose of this paper. Is it possible to conceive of a properly terrorist action taking place entirely in a digital environment? Has an attack that could be called cyberterrorism ever occurred? What are the methodological and operational differences between such an attack and a physical one, and what are the interpretive and theoretical differences for the terrorism scholar? These are the main questions guiding the present paper.

The Age of Quantum Software Has Already Started

Steven Rosenbush

Quantum computers are still in their infancy, but we don’t have to wait until they grow up to get a glimpse of the difference they will make.

That means companies racing to keep up with artificial intelligence will need to contend with yet another emerging area of change much more quickly than some quantum timelines suggest.

Drones on the Loose

Stephen Cimbala

The state of New Jersey is apparently facing an invasion by unstoppable drones. This development is creating demands for investigation on the part of federal, state, and local governments. Citizens are concerned and media curiosity is at fever pitch.

Contacts with foreign sources were not very informative. The Chinese Ministry of Defense denied any use of drones over American or other territory, and their spokesperson added, “We get all the information we need from hacking into US government and industry sources.” They referred Americans to the Russians.

The Russian Security Council denied any involvement in flying drones over the East Coast. “Iran provides most of our drones, go talk to them,” was the only response we could get from officials. They added that President Putin has his own personal drone for use when he is hunting while riding bare chested in the Far East.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry was no more helpful on the issue saying, “Any drones we have will be used for surveillance of Israel or sent to the Russians for the Ukrainians to shoot down.”

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)