Articles By Col Anil Athale

Kashmir : From Azadi to Nizam-e-Mustafa

Kashmir : From Azadi to Nizam-e-Mustafa

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 21 Jun , 2018

Recently a report by J&K police regarding militancy makes an interesting read. The report traces the life cycle of a local militant in four stages. The first stage is where the youngster feels...

More

Wuhan Summit: An attempt to overcome the past

Wuhan Summit: An attempt to overcome the past

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 05 May , 2018

Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the...

More

Internal Peace: Understanding the Structural Issues

Internal Peace: Understanding the Structural Issues

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 09 Apr , 2018

Increasingly, as the country becomes more powerful, external threats reduce in intensity, but the army finds itself engaged in restoring internal peace. This becomes of even greater importance...

More

US & Pakistan: Severing the Umbilical Cord?

US & Pakistan: Severing the Umbilical Cord?

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 02 Apr , 2018

One comes across frequent reports of American frustration with Pakistan and many in India wistfully hope that a break in relations between the two is round the corner. Inevitably, these Indians...

More

Sri Lanka Battlefields Revisited

Sri Lanka Battlefields Revisited

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 25 Mar , 2018

As I enplaned Colombo on 28 February 2018 to return to India after spending a fortnight old memories returned! This was this author’s fourth trip to the island nation. One was lucky this time...

More

Understanding Pakistan’s Strategic Calculus!

Understanding Pakistan’s Strategic Calculus!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 27 Nov , 2017

The first essential step of national security policy is to understand the basis and substance of the likely adversary’s aims and objectives. History offers vital clues on the same. Without much...

More

Rise of China: An Enigma

Rise of China: An Enigma

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 17 Oct , 2017

Arnold J. Toynbee, a doyen of historian, in his multi volume magnum opus ‘Studies in World History’ had predicted rise of China and India and the challenge it will pose to the West dominated...

More

To ‘Act East’, Act in the North East India First!

To ‘Act East’, Act in the North East India First!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 28 Sep , 2017

As China rises and acts aggressively on our Northern borders laying claim to the whole of state of Arunachal Pradesh, establishing contact and strengthening our ancient ties with South East Asia...

More

David versus goliath myth on insurgency

David versus goliath myth on insurgency

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 28 Aug , 2017

A military historian and author of “Quest for Peace: Comparative Studies in Counterinsurgencies”. In the 20th century insurgencies were a major issue of world politics. The decade of 1960s and...

More

A View from Washington

A View from Washington

By: Col Anil Athale | Date: 19 Aug , 2017

Last month I found myself, again, interacting with the various think tanks in Washington DC. This has been a tradition with me going back 26 years to 1991. Since then, this was my 8th visit to...

More

Anglo-Maratha Struggle for Empire: The Importance of Maritime Power

Anglo-Maratha Struggle for Empire: The Importance of Maritime Power

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Vol. 32.2 Apr-Jun 2017 | Date: 14 Aug , 2017

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, power equations on the West coast had undergone a major change. The Siddi of Janjira, though undefeated and surviving, was much weakened due to the...

More

Logic Behind Chinese Aggressive Moves!

Logic Behind Chinese Aggressive Moves!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 05 Aug , 2017

Last two months or so have seen the Chinese PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) provoke India on the border. Easily the Doklam incident is the most serious of the lot and remains still unresolved....

More

Remembering a Hero in Bicentenary Year!

Remembering a Hero in Bicentenary Year!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Vol. 32.2 Apr-Jun 2017 | Date: 29 Jun , 2017

This year the First Nine Gorkha Rifles celebrates its bicentenary and it is natural that we remember all the men who contributed to make this Paltan one of the very best in the world. Every...

More

Pakistan’s Womb Bomb: Deadlier than its Nuclear Bomb

Pakistan’s Womb Bomb: Deadlier than its Nuclear Bomb

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 26 May , 2017

‘Demography is destiny’. Like geography, it influences politics, economics and issues of war and peace. Though demography (population numbers, composition and density) is not permanent and...

More

Countering Naxalism: What is to be done now?

Countering Naxalism: What is to be done now?

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 27 Apr , 2017

The latest outrage in which the Naxals killed over 25 Policemen of the CRPF, ought to be a wake-up call. But will it be? Given the past experience (like the attack in April 2010 that killed 75...

More

India’s Nuclear Strategy and Brain Freeze in Delhi!

India’s Nuclear Strategy and Brain Freeze in Delhi!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 08 Apr , 2017

Former Defence Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar had set the cat amongst the pigeons and doves some months ago when he mentioned a need to have a re-look at our nuclear posture. Encouraged by this...

More

Remembering a Hero in Bicentenary Year!

Remembering a Hero in Bicentenary Year!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 24 Mar , 2017

This year the First Nine Gorkha Rifles celebrates its bicentenary and it is natural that we remember all the men who contributed to make this Paltan one of the very best in the world. Every...

More

Moving Beyond Cordon and Search!

Moving Beyond Cordon and Search!

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 02 Mar , 2017

As India battles Urban Insurgency in parts of Srinagar valley, I recall my experience during 1988 while I attended the Senior Command Course at College of Combat Mhow. I was an unusual student...

More

Understanding US Election Result

Understanding US Election Result

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 05 Feb , 2017

Any student of international affairs and security issues will be forced to have reasonable understanding of the US domestic dynamics since the US plays a vital role all over the world. I have...

More

Kashmir Valley Troubles: Has the Penny Dropped?

Kashmir Valley Troubles: Has the Penny Dropped?

By: Col Anil Athale | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 19 Sep , 2016

The recent events in Kashmir and robust Indian response does seem to indicate that Indian approach to trouble in Kashmir valley has finally come to terms with changed global scenario. Unmindful...

More