Review by SWARASHI JAIN (January 21, 2025): When envisioning a war-torn region, the plight of children often comes to mind—innocent victims of circumstances beyond their control rendered passive and powerless by the atrocities around them.
As the United States continues to provide both overt and covert support to conflicts in Eurasia and the Middle East, a growing grassroots initiative known as the 'Defend the Guard' movement has emerged to challenge federal military policies at home. Originating in 2015 with the introduction of the 'Defend the Guard Act' by the West Virginia legislature, this movement seeks to protect the constitutional rights of states and National Guard personnel.
Following major crackdown on terrorists in the Kashmir Valley and the redeployment of troops from the southern Pir Panjal range to Ladakh due to the ongoing border standoff with China, terrorists have shifted their base from Kashmir to the Jammu region. This shift is particularly evident in areas such as Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, and Kathua, where dense forests and steep mountains offer militants ample cover.
The paper discusses the use of white phosphorus (WP) munitions in recent conflict zones such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Nagorno-Karabakh, highlighting the significant legal, ethical, and humanitarian issues it raises. It argues for critically reassessing white phosphorus use in warfare to ensure it aligns with humanitarian values and public ethics.
The trend of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in India demonstrates a downward trajectory. Despite this, sporadic incidents of violence result in casualties, and the evolving tactics employed by insurgents are being met with adept responses from the security apparatus. Against this backdrop, the current paper aims to integrate the strategies used in counterinsurgency operations against Indian Maoists into a broader framework. This includes examining their implications within the wider spectrum of global non-state and conventional military engagements.
Drone technology is increasingly becoming more capable of autonomous violence and destruction. With drones heralding a new age of warfare and a change like military technology, it is crucial to evaluate drones' ethical and political implications. This is because drones are capable of integrating advanced algorithmic and computer systems, thus allowing a level of mathematical precision to military operations that have never been seen before. Proponents of drones would say that this allows for a reduction in unintended casualties.
The Hazara Shia community has endured widespread discrimination and systematic sectarian violence since the establishment of modern Afghanistan in 1747. A long history of persecution endured by the Hazara community and their status as a vulnerable ethnic group over centuries in Afghanistan is now part of Central Asia’s folklore. The Hazaras have suffered from centuries of discrimination, violence, and systemic oppression, ranging from historical atrocities under the rule of Amir Abdul Rahman to targeted attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State of Khorasan Province.
Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city, has been enduring the consequences of Russia's aggression since the outset of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Once known as Artemivsk, it retained this name until 2016, encompassing both the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. During the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers laid claim to Bakhmut as part of their territorial ambitions. However, the Ukrainian government managed to retake the city in mid-2014. Russia's interest in Bakhmut stems from its strategic geography, which enables them to disrupt Ukraine's supply lines.
As Rohingya refugee camps near the Naf river (which partially separates Bangladesh and Myanmar) become hubs for organized crime and militants, Bangladeshi authorities fear spillover effects for Bangladesh and for the region more broadly. Refugee camps have mushroomed along Bangladesh’s southeastern border since August 2017 as a result of the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. However, now these refugee camps are becoming havens for crime, replete with gang violence, targeted killings, and the trafficking of drugs, firearms, and counterfeit currency.
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