SASSI lauded for conducting moot on CSD

Monday, July 26, 2010
Islamabad

In order to congratulate South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) for conducting three-day workshop ‘Indian Military’s Cold Start Doctrine and its Implications for Strategic Stability in South Asia’, Finance Minister, Government of Punjab, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, hosted a dinner in honour of the organisation at the Punjab House, says a press release issued here Sunday.

The dinner was also attended by Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen, and State Minister for Railways Muhammad Afzal Sindhu.

The three-day workshop has nine sub-themes, theme 1-Introduction and Theoretical Reference, theme 2 -Cold Start Concept and Evaluation: Definitions (Cold Start/Proactive Ops) Conventional Doctrine - Pakistan-India, theme 3-Cold Start Assumptions, theme 4- Military Developments and Implications for Arms Race, theme 5- Strategic Stability Implications: Pakistan’s Response, theme 6- International Response, theme 7- National Response, theme 8- Pakistan Counter Measures and Nuclear Doctrine, and last theme 9 was the Concluding Session i.e. Implications for Strategic Stability.

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Ambitions

Mark HibbsQ&A, JULY 20, 2010

There is a growing number of countries across the Middle East seeking to establish civilian nuclear energy programs. Last week, three leading nuclear industry-related firms—two from the United States and one from Japan—announced a joint initiative to build and operate nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. More >>>

This also speaks volumes, as far as I am concerned, about Saudi Arabia’s petroleum reserves. Editor.

SASSI warns of Indian unilateral strikes

Director-General Dr. Maria Sultan

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

ISLAMABAD: South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) organised a three days' workshop on Monday, which was, inaugurated by Minister of State for Information Samsam Bukhari.

Talking to the inaugural session, Samsam said that India has seemingly war-gamed its strategy since 2004, which is based on the assumption that occupation of limited Pakistani territory, following a surgical military strike, could be used as a haggling chip to force Islamabad to heel. "But I am happy that there is someone  (SASSI)

who are monitoring whole the current scenario and have courage to aware Pakistanis," he said. More >>>

Military Action Against Iran: Impacts and Effects

Paul Rogers

Israeli Military Strike on Iran Will Lead to a Protracted War and Will Not Solve Nuclear Crisis 

The potential for an Israeli military strike on Iran over its nuclear programme has grown sharply, but its consequences would be devastating and would lead to a long war, warns a Paul Rogers in his report “Military Action Against Iran: Impact and Effects”.* The study follows Israeli reports that Syria is manufacturing Iranian M-600 missiles for Hezbollah, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu calling Iran “the ultimate terrorist threat” and saying it was a mistake to think Iran’s nuclear ambitions could be contained, and a call from the United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Washington for a military strike on Iran.

The report builds on Rogers' report "Iran: Consequences of a War" (2006) and analyses recent developments, arguing that Israel is now fully capable of attacking Iran as it has deployed many new systems including US-built long-range strike aircraft and armed drones. More >>>

On Bombing the bomb

Friday July 9, 2010  This morning’s Washington Post features an op-ed on Iran policy by former U.S. Senator Charles (Chuck) Robb and retired U.S. Air Force general Charles (Chuck) Wald. It’s a serious, earnest statement, but also seriously flawed.

The gist of what The Two Chucks have to say is this: we cannot “compel Iran to terminate its nuclear program” unless we threaten to bomb it. Only if we do threaten to bomb it — in addition to imposing sanctions and holding the door open to diplomacy — will we have any real hope of success. This shift to a “triple-track strategy” must be made swiftly, because Iran “could achieve nuclear weapons capability before the end of this year.”

Call it the “Say it with JDAMs“ school of nonproliferation diplomacy. Unfortunately, it overlooks a couple of the key puzzle pieces needed to understand the situation. More >>>

Asia in the grip of water crisis: Asian Development Bank

Sunday, July 4th. 2020 -Asia is in the grip of a water crisis that could set back the region's robust economic growth if left unresolved, according to a top Asian Development Bank (ADB) official.

Arjun Thapan, special adviser to ADB president Harukiko Kuroda on water and infrastructure issues, said governments must start managing the resource better to prevent the problem from worsening.

"We certainly believe that Asia is in the grip of a water crisis and one that is becoming more serious over time," Thapan told AFP on the sidelines of a water and urban planning conference in Singapore.

"We believe that the estimate recently made about Asia having a 40 percent gap between demand and supply by 2030 is a reasonable estimate."

With 80 percent of Asia's water used to irrigate agricultural lands, the shortage could have serious implications for food supplies, he warned. More >>>

IAEA Still Hopeful of Deal Between Tehran and West

IRAN: Nuclear watchdog still hopeful of a deal between Tehran and the West

June 30, 2010 |  7:08 am

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, flatly stated in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times that a once much-touted deal between Iran and the international community on Tehran's nuclear program wasn't going to happen without big changes.

 The dormant deal, dubbed the TRR (short for Tehran research reactor), involved exchanging a chunk of Iran's low-enriched uranium stockpile for fuel to power a medical reactor. 

But that's not to say there's no possibility of some kind of compromise between Iran and the West on the controversial nuclear program, Amano said. More>>>