national-security

The horrific 9/11 attacks! The deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the 2001 attacks pushed the United States toward retaliation. Alongside changes in security policy came a long military campaign known as the “War on Terror.” From Afghanistan to Iraq and later Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, the war spread across various regions. Twenty-five years later, the humanitarian toll is devastating. An estimated 4.5 to 4.7 million people have died in wars and related conflict zones. More t...

The decision to purchase advanced J-10C fighter jets from China cannot be viewed merely as an isolated aspect of military equipment or air defense assessment. It must be viewed as part of a deeper geopolitical and strategic decision to strengthen Bangladesh’s national security and military deterrence. National security is a multidimensional and broad concept. National security does not refer only to the physical protection of territory or the size of the armed forces or military equipment. Its s...

There is a certain kind of institution that grows more powerful the less it is understood. India’s Research and Analysis Wing, known simply as RAW, belongs to that rare category. It has no public website, no listed budget, no officer whose face regularly appears on television explaining a decision. And yet almost every major turn in South Asian history since 1968, the birth of Bangladesh, the war against Khalistani militancy, the standoff with Pakistan over Kashmir, the quiet contest with...