By George Friedman The U.S. military for years has debated the utility of counterinsurgency operations. Drawing from a sentiment that harkens back to the Vietnam War, many within the military have long opposed counterinsurgency operations. Others see counterinsurgency as the unavoidable future of U.S. warfare. The debate is between those who believe the purpose of a conventional military force is to defeat ...

Simon Denyer It was supposed to be the motor for the next phase of India’s economic resurgence, but the country’s manufacturing sector has hit a brick wall, according to new data released Thursday. Dragged down by a sluggish manufacturing sector, India’s economic growth rate slowed to 6.5 percent in the 2011-12 fiscal year, its slowest rate in nine years and well below the 8.5 percent recorded a year earlie ...

Robert Wexler Editor’s note: This article is one of two debating the necessity of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear project. The other, by Elliott Abrams, argues “The Grounds for an Israeli Attack.” Israeli and American leaders are in full agreement on the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The question, therefore, is not if we should thwart Iran’s illicit nuclear ambitions, but rather h ...

By Michael Singh How Tehran is outflanking Obama We have failed to understand Iran's motives Last week’s talks in Baghdad between Iran and the P5-plus-1 — the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — yielded no agreement. Paradoxically, however, both Washington and Tehran are likely to view the negotiations as successful, but for vastly different reasons. There is an interest that both Ir ...

This month's NATO summit in Chicago has provided many writers and analysts a moment to debate possible outcomes of the U.S. endeavor in Afghanistan.  Commentary ranges from David Ignatius "thinking the unthinkable" about the Taliban returning to Kabul, to former First Lady Laura Bush urging the international community to remember the women of Afghanistan.  The meeting provides a timely inflection point abou ...

State-run defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has entered into a contract with Russian firm United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to manufacture 205 multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) in 15-20 tonne-class for the Indian Air Force (IAF), Russian Air Force (RAF) and other countries. The Indo-Russian partners have roped in another Russian firm - Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd (MTAL) - as third part ...

Racism in India Most Indians think racism exists only in the West and see themselves as victims. It's time they examined their own attitudes towards people from the country's North-East The mysterious death of Loitam Richard in Bangalore, the murder of Ramchanphy Hongray in New Delhi, the suicide by Dana Sangma and other such incidents serve as reminders of the insecure conditions under which people, partic ...

LONDON: Britain's military is to take charge of London's airspace for the first time since 1945 as part of the huge security operation set up to police the Olympic Games, The Times reported on Tuesday. Civilian controllers will still be responsible for guiding the 500,000 extra guests into the capital's airports, but will be under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the first time s ...