Articles By Col Anil Athale
Amrit Kal Lessons of History
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 31 May , 2023
The biggest lesson of Indian history is that we are negligent of our own history and do not know much about it and as a corollary do not learn from it. In my 30 years of study of military...
Creating a Motivational Environment: A Structural-Functional Approach
By: Col Anil Athale | Date: 11 May , 2023
This essay won a ‘special prize’ in the first Chief of Army Staff Gold Medal Essay competition in 1987. Though dated in some geo-political aspects, it retains its relevance even today....
Ukraine War: Deconstructing Russian Federation
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 25 Feb , 2023
The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win. As long as this prevails the world is safe. But should Russia come close...
Obstacles in the Development of Comprehensive National Power
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 19 Jan , 2023
The last three years saw a major change in India’s national security environment. On the one hand, Pakistan, beset by internal turmoil and economic bankruptcy faded out, and China emerged as...
Making up the Military History Deficit: ‘Siachen 1987’ by Lt Gen RV Kulkarni
By: Col Anil Athale | Date: 04 Dec , 2022
In 1987 as I finished working on the official history of the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict, one was filled with sadness at the negative impact all this was bound to have on the readers. I...
Crossing the Nuclear Rubicon in Ukraine: Long Term Implications
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 29 Sep , 2022
As a longtime student of nuclear warfare, (I began to study it in 1965 as an NDA Cadet, my Staff College dissertation on this subject in 1979 to my book in 1997) one has seen the evolution of...
Understanding the Strategic Shift in South Asia
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 14 Sep , 2022
Conditioned by decades of ‘passive’ defence policies, most Indians, including military analysts, tend to see the happenings in South Asia in terms of narrow Indo-centric focus. The two major...
Role of the Armed Forces in Preserving the Nation
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 15 Aug , 2022
As India completes 75 years of independence, it also creates a new landmark in 5000-year-old history of India. If we count the period under British imperial rule (1857 to 1947), then India (most...
Lessons from War in Ukraine
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 26 Jul , 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war that followed has continued for over 100 days. At the global political level this is a continuation of the one-sided conventional wars that have broken out...
Random Thoughts on National Security Reforms and not tinkering with...
By: Col Anil Athale | Date: 08 Jul , 2022
Luckily the ‘Agniveer’ scheme and violence in its aftermath have faded out of the media due to its cyclic nature. This gives us an opportunity to a calmer refection on the whole gamut of...
Kashmir Killings: What is to be done now!
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 07 Jun , 2022
The selective killings of Hindus and pro India Muslims in the valley are a reminder that war declared on us is not over yet. Right at the outset it must be clearly understood that what the...
Violence in India: Pakistani Game Plan
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 30 May , 2022
There is one constant in Pakistani policy towards India for last 75 years and that is a firm belief that India cannot stay as one nation and will soon breakup into several small parts. In such a...
Ukraine War: Essence of a Decision
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 24 Apr , 2022
In a book of the similar title, Prof. Graham T. Allison has analyzed the American decision-making process during the Cuban Missile Crisis of Oct 1962. He mentions how at a crucial meeting just...
India in a Turbulent World
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 12 Apr , 2022
The pointless Russian invasion and the images of wanton destruction in Ukraine have been dominating the world stage for last several weeks. Most of us have been unable to understand the current...
Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Wider Repercussions
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 25 Mar , 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on the 24 of February 2022 is yet to end with the military and diplomatic outcome still mired in uncertainty. However, whatever the ultimate outcome, it...
Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Limits of Military Power
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 02 Mar , 2022
On the ‘WhatsApp University’ in India, some time back a ‘fauji’ (in Hindi anything related to the military) article was in circulation that compared the national level mourning on death...
Some Fundamental Issues: musings of a soldier
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 16 Feb , 2022
What follows is not a structured military paper but a series of points to ponder over. I begin with some fundamental issues, some universal and some peculiar to Indian milieu. Understanding...
Preserving the Autonomy of Logic of Force
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 03 Oct , 2021
Legislature, executive, judiciary and press are four pillars of a democracy but there is also a fifth one, the armed forces, without which the other four may not exist. Armed forces are the...
Afghanistan: From the Perspective of Counterinsurgency
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 27 Aug , 2021
The collapse of Afghan army without offering any resistance marks the end of American counterinsurgency operations. After a similar collapse of South Vietnamese Army in 1976, this is a second...
Is Afghanistan the First Domino?
By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 25 Aug , 2021
In the 1960s, “Domino theory’ was a popular phrase used by the Western strategic analysts to justify American intervention in Vietnam. To jog the reader’s memory, the said theory postulated...