Writing

Journal articles/monographs:

• Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons and the NATO analogy, The Washington Quarterly (Forthcoming, Vol. 36, No. 3, Summer 2013)
• India’s military instrument: a doctrine stillborn, Journal of Strategic Studies (Forthcoming, Vol. 36, No. 4, July/August 2013): A critical evaluation of the Indian Army’s so-called Cold Start limited war doctrine. Peer-reviewed.
• Iran: Red Lines and Grey Areas, RUSI Briefing Paper (April 2013, with Hugh Chalmers): An assessment of the concept and practice of red lines, as applied to Iran’s nuclear programme. Includes detailed examination of red lines pertaining to weaponisation, uranium enriched up to 20 per cent, and enrichment capacity.
• Not Quite ‘Zero Problems’: Ankara’s Troubles in Syria, RUSI Journal (Vol. 158, No. 1, Spring 2013): An assessment of Turkey’s emerging strategy in Syria, NATO’s deployment of Patriot missiles to Turkey, and implications for Turkey’s rise and its relationship with the Alliance. With Aaron Stein. Peer-reviewed.
• Permanent Crisis: Iran’s Nuclear Trajectory, RUSI Whitehall Paper No. 79 (London: Taylor & Francis 2012/3): 160-page monograph on the past, present and future of Iran’s nuclear programme and its implications for regional security and nonproliferation.
• The Broken US-Pakistan relationship, Current History (April 2012)
• China-India Relations: Awkward Ascents, Orbis (Fall 2011): An analytical overview of Sino-Indian relations, the causes of bilateral tension, and the sources of stability in the relationship.
• Reflections on the Arab Revolutions: Order, Democracy, and Western Policy, RUSI Journal (Vol. 156, No. 2, April 2011): Early assessment of the Arab Spring, the role of armies in shaping political change, and the implications for the Middle East.
• Why India is Becoming Warier of China, Current History (April 2011)
• China, India and the “Whole Set-Up and Balance of the World”, STAIR: St. Antony’s International Review (Vol. 6, No.2, February 2011): An evaluation of how the Sino-Indian enmity impacts upon China’s integration into global structures, with a particular focus on the doctrine of peaceful rise. Peer-reviewed.
• India’s AfPak strategy, RUSI Journal (Vol. 155, No. 1, March 2010): An overview of India’s strategy in Afghanistan, the nature of Indo-Pakistan rivalry inside the country, and the impact upon the ongoing war.

Asia:

• Is North Korea really looking to start a war?, The Telegraph (5 April 2013)
• New Year, New Problem? Pakistan’s Tactical Nuclear Weapons, The Diplomat (1 January 2013)
• In Asia, growth has not brought trust, and it might yet bring conflict, The Telegraph (27 December 2012)
• Salvaging the Afghan war: cooperation with Iran, Russia and India, The Telegraph (8 October 2012)
• Paradigm trap: Indian foreign policy and non-alignment , The Caravan magazine (1 May 2012)
• The arms race myth, The New York Times (23 April 2012)
• India’s nuclear choices, The Times of India (23 April 2012) – republished in The Economic Times
• New Delhi’s new missile: Agni-V and the future of India’s nuclear forces, RUSI.org (20 April 2012)
• The US-Afghan relationship and prospects for drawdown, The Independent (19 April 2012)
• India and the Middle East: New Delhi’s balancing acts in West Asia, The Hindu (13 April 2012)
• The Indian mutiny that wasn’t: behind the coup rumors in Delhi, Foreign Policy (5 April 2012)
• India’s civil-military distrust is nothing new, The Wall Street Journal (4 April 2012)
• Afghan schism – review of ‘An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban / Al-Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan, 1970-2010′ , The Financial Times (22 January 2012)
• A tough way to do business: NATO, Pakistan, and the logistics of the Afghan War, The World Today, Chatham House (January 2012)
• The mathematics of Pakistan’s decision to stop NATO supplies, The Friday Times (December 9 2012)
• The mythology of Cold Start: India’s army doctrine, The New York Times (4 November 2011)
• India’s strategic calculus in Afghanistan, Foreign Policy (part of a ‘Ten Years of War’ roundtable)(6 October 2011)
• The US has lost patience with Pakistan, The Telegraph (29 September 2011)
• The crumbling US-Pakistan alliance and what it means for India, The Times of India (27 September 2011)
• A very special relationship: the US-Pakistan alliance darkens, RUSI.org (26 September 2011)
• Afghanistan is lurching toward civil war, The Telegraph (22 September 2011)
• What Rabbani’s death means for Afghanistan and the war, RUSI.org (22 September 2011)
• Afghanistan: if winning is not an option, The Age (Australia) (22 September 2011)
• China’s carrier is no cause for regional alarm, The Australian (6 September 2011, with Ashley Townshend)
• Troubled waters: implications of China’s first aircraft carrier, RUSI.org (August 2011, with Ashley Townshend)
• The cool peace between India and China, The Interpreter blog at the Lowy Institute (July 2011)
• The Mumbai blasts: are the Indian Mujahideen really Indian? , Foreign Policy (July 2011)
• The Mumbai blasts and the Indian Mujahideen, RUSI.org (July 2011)
• Pakistan and the Macavity of militaries: why the generals still rule the roost, The Guardian (July 2011)
• Implications of the Karachi attack: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and its relationship with China, RUSI.org (May 2011)
• India and Operation Geronimo, Current Intelligence (May 2011)
• Osama bin Laden’s death: Pakistan faces the music, RUSI.org (May 2011)
• 2011: the year ahead, RUSI.org (December 2010)
• Obama and India: a robust relationship, RUSI Newsbrief (Vol. 30, No. 6, 2010)
• Growing pains: the Sino-Japanese naval dispute, RUSI.org (September 2010)
• Kashmir: the China card, The World Today, Chatham House, (October 2010)
• With allies like this: Wikileaks and Pakistan, RUSI.org (August 2010)
• The Afghan endgame: retrospect and prospect, RUSI.org (July 2010)
• India and Britain: the new special relationship?, RUSI.org (May 2010)
• Injecting a sense of realism to the India-Pakistan peace talks, RUSI.org (May 2010)
• India and the Four Day War: on the new Cold Start doctrine, RUSI.org (April 2010)
• Defence Transformation in India, RUSI Newsbrief (Vol. 30, No.2, 2010)
• What does the Baradar arrest mean?, RUSI.org (March 2010)
• Insurgency at sea: the currency of carriers (on Indian naval strategy), Pragati – The Indian National Interest Review (February 2010)
• India and Iran: A Pragmatic Alliance, RUSI Newsbrief (Vol. 30, No.1, 2010)
• India’s role in Afghanistan, The Guardian (December 2009)
• Sixty-five thousand tonnes of ambition: India’s Maritime Strategy, RUSI.org (December 2009)

Middle East/other:

• Don’t underestimate Iran’s election upset, Bloomberg (16 June 2013)
• Why the US should show its evidence on Syria’s use of chemical weapons, The Guardian (14 June 2013)
• Hubris and Nemesis, With a Turkish Accent: Erdogan and the Turkish Protests, The Telegraph (3 June 2013)
• Are the Dark Days Returning to Iraq?, CNN (22 May 2013)
• Digital Destruction – review of Thomas Rid’s ‘Cyber War Will Not Happen’, The Financial Times (10 May 2013)
• Red Lines on Iran: Not so Black and White, The Diplomat (4 May 2013)
•  On changing patterns of war and lighter footprints, The Telegraph (2 May 2013)
• Red lines and Syrian chemical weapons, RUSI.org (26 April 2013)
• The Turkey-Israel rapprochement, Foreign Policy (4 April 2013, with Aaron Stein)
• Patriot missiles won’t cure Syria, The National Interest (22 March 2013, with Aaron Stein)
• Should the EU agree to arm Syrian rebels?, The Guardian (15 March 2013)
• US Syria strategy aims to salvage reputation [on arms provision], BBC News (1 March 2013)
• We have until June 2013 to end the Iranian nuclear crisis, The Guardian (25 December)
• A tenuous ceasefire in Gaza, RUSI.org (23 November 2012)
• Missile Creep [on NATO's Patriot missile deployment to Turkey], Foreign Policy (10 December 2012, with Aaron Stein)
• The West must prepare for Syria’s endgame, The Telegraph (6 December 2013)
• A new Middle East, same old story in Gaza, The Telegraph (19 November 2012)
• Nuclear Iran: Engagement or Intervention?, Conservative Middle East Council (CMEC) (November 2012)
• Europe deserves its Nobel, The Hindu (25 October 2012)
• Lebanon risks being torn apart by Syrian conflict, BBC (24 October 2012); see longer RUSI.org version here
• Free speech is the only answer to bigotry, The Telegraph (24 September 2012)
• Film protests: what explains the anger?, BBC News (15 September 2012)
• What is the zone of immunity? Iran, Israel and the IAEA’s new report, RUSI.org (3 September 2012)
• Syria and the shadow of Afghanistan, The Telegraph (6 August 2012)
• Sir John Keegan unmasked the human face of war, The Telegraph (3 August 2012)
• Transition from Assad, in Syria Crisis Briefing: A Collision Course for Intervention, Royal United Services Institute (25 July 2012)
• How serious is Syria’s threat to use chemical weapons?, The Independent (24 July 2012)
• Islamists and jihadists in Syria, The Independent (21 July 2012)
• The Arab Spring’s spirit still burns in Libya: on the Libyan elections, The Telegraph (10 July 2012)
• The implications of the Manaaf Tlas defection for Syria, BBC News (10 July 2012)
• Army misrule is turning Egypt into Pakistan, The Telegraph (19 June 2012)
• The possible triggers for intervention in Syria, The Independent (1 June 2012)
• Is Syria the new Iraq?, CNN (31 May 2012)
• Syria, the Houla massacre, and intervention: an interview with The Economist (31 May 2012)
• Syria, and why Russia is morally bankrupt, The Times (30 May 2012)
• Syria: Why Houla massacre may not lead to intervention, BBC News (27 May 2012)
• The Al-Qaeda underwear bomber and the CIA leaks: loose lips sink spies, The Telegraph (11 May 2012)
• Terrorism and the evolution of Syria’s uprising, RUSI.org (11 May 2012)
• Implications of the Damascus bombing, BBC News (10 May 2012)
• Kofi Annan in the Syrian quagmire, The Independent (20 April 2012)
• The Arab League after the Baghdad summit, BBC News (16 April 2012)
• Can the Arab League bridge its divisions? , BBC News (27 March 2012)
• Can the Arab League bridge its divisions? , BBC News (27 March 2012)
• Schrodinger’s bomb: preventive war and Iran (extended version) , CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (9 March 2012)
• Schrodinger’s bomb: preventive war and Iran, RUSI.org (9 March 2012)
• Is a nuclear Iran as dangerous as we think? Reassessing the costs of a nuclear Gulf, RUSI.org (27 February 2012)
• Nuclear alarmism over Iran is backing us into a corner, The Guardian (21 February 2012)
• It’s time to support the Syrian opposition, The Financial Times (5 February 2012, with Sir Malcolm Rifkind)
• The Muslim Brotherhood is not the Taliban: the new Islamist politics of the Middle East, The Telegraph (25 January 2012) – recommended by The Browser
• The US and Iran are on a path to confrontation, The Telegraph (18 January 2012)
• Qatar’s role in Syria, CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (18 January 2012)
• The logic of the UK-Saudi relationship, The Independent (14 January 2012)
• Iran and the West: playing a zero-sum game, RUSI.org (12 January 2012) – quoted by the House of Commons library’s report on Iran
• The Arab League observer mission in Syria, The Independent (31 December 2011)
• Arab Spring: the revolution has only just begun, The Telegraph (28 December 2011) – republished in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (Australia); recommended by the New Statesman
• Don’t be surprised that Assad is blaming foreign jihadists, The Independent (24 December 2011)
• Nouri al-Maliki is pulling Iraq apart, The Telegraph (21 December 2011)
• Aftershocks and Transitions: the World in 2012, RUSI.org (15 December 2011)
• The Arab Spring Redux? The Egyptian Revolution returns with a vengeance, RUSI.org (25 November 2011)
• The Egyptian military’s overreach, CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (25 November 2011)
• The Egyptian Army hijacks the revolution, The Telegraph (25 November 2011)
• How Saif’s capture complicates Libya’s new government , BBC News (19 November 2011)
• Why did the Arab League turn on Syria?, The Telegraph (15 November 2011) – republished in The Sydney Morning Herald
• After Gaddafi: Libya’s revolution has far to go, BBC News (21 October 2011)
• The meaning of Gaddafi’s death, RUSI.org (21 October 2011)
• The Saudi-Iranian Cold War heats up, The Telegraph (14 October 2011)
• al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and President Saleh’s future, CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (4 October 2011)
• Awlaki’s killing could make Saleh stronger and Yemen weaker, The Independent (1 October 2011)
• Warning: Syria is much stronger than Libya, CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (7 September 2011)
• Libya and the rising powers: humanitarian intervention’s last hurrah?, The Telegraph (1 September 2011)
• Is Syria slipping out of Assad’s grasp?, BBC News (30 August 2011)
• The Al Jazeera Revolution: Libya and the Arab public sphere, CNN Global Public Square (GPS) (29 August 2011)
• Ripples from Libya: Tripoli’s fall and the Arab Spring, The Telegraph (26 August 2011)
• Catching Colonel Gaddafi should not be the priority, The Guardian (26 August 2011)
• Reasons to be cautiously optimistic about post-Gaddafi Libya, RUSI.org (24 August 2011)
• Libya need not repeat others’ mistakes, The Guardian (24 August 2011)
• Analysis: Why Gaddafi’s crack troops melted away, BBC News (22 August 2011)
• What will Free Libya Look Like?, The Telegraph (22 August 2011)
• Analysis: Tribal divisions, Islamist factions, and Libya’s transition, CNN (22 August 2011)
• Viewpoint: No easy endgame in Libya, BBC News (21 August 2011)
• The noose tightens around Tripoli, The Independent (16 August 2011)
• Assad and Hama: A conflict haunted by echoes of the past, The Independent (August 2011)
• Hama Rules: the resilience of the Syrian army, RUSI.org (August 2011)
• The Libya War: a response to Anne-Marie Slaughter, The Financial Times (July 2011)
• Fractured Front: Implications of Abdul Fattah Younes’ death for the Libyan Revolution, BBC News (July 2011)
• Younes’ assassination could trigger tribal warfare, The Independent (July 2011)
• Arab Spring: Nature of armies decisive in revolutions, BBC News (June 2011)
• Libya: Illusion of momentum as NATO campaign drags on
  , BBC News (June 2011)
• The Persian Illusion: Bahrain, the Gulf, and Iranian threat inflation, The World Today, Chatham House, (May 2011)
• The war in Libya: three scenarios, and a settlement, RUSI.org (May 2011)
• Amateurs talk strategy, but professionals talk logistics, The Independent (May 2011)
• NATO and assassination: the death of Said al-Arab Gaddafi, BBC News (May 2011)
• Military advisers in Libya: prospects for ground forces, BBC News (April 2011)
• Limited war requires limited aims, The Independent (April 2011)
• British strategy in Libya, RUSI.org (April 2011)
• Three Ripples from the Arab Spring, e-IR (April 2011)
• Quantifying Arab military support, RUSI.org (April 2011)
• Listen To The People: Arab opinion and Libya, Outlook India (March 2011)
• No easy path to democracy for Syria, Left Foot Forward (March 2011)
• Arab reaction to the Libya intervention, Yale Global Online (March 2011)
• Gaddafi’s strategy to split the coalition, BBC News (March 2011)
• Libya: caught between containment and regime change, The Independent (March 2011)
• Where does Bahrain go from here?, Left Foot Forward (March 2011) – recommended by the News Statesman.
• The realistic option for Libya, RUSI.org (March 2011)
• Why there will no happy ending for Gaddafi, BBC News (March 2011)
• The risks of arming Libya’s rebels, The Independent (March 2011)
• Why is there a stalemate in Libya? A military analysis of the conflict, BBC News (March 2011)
• Why a No-Fly Zone over Libya can work, RUSI.org (March 2011)
• This revolution is far more complex than we imagine, The Independent (March 2011)
• Analysis: Libya’s protests and the failure of the ‘Tiananmen model’, BBC News (February 2011)
• Egypt’s democratic future: too early to celebrate?, BBC News (February 2011)
• The Egyptian military, the state, and protests, BBC News (February 2011)
• Viewpoint: How is Mubarak hanging on?, BBC News (February 2011)
• Notes on a revolution: Tunisia, Egypt and beyond, RUSI.org (January 2011)
• Honor in International Relations: published in the Harvard University Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Working Paper Series (January 2009)
• Fear and International Politics, The Utopian (2009)
• Petrodollars: the Political Economy of Oil, The Cambridge Globalist (2006)
• UN Security Council: Help or Hindrance?, Global 21 magazine (2006)
• Drones, the Quadrennial Defense Review, and US policy, RUSI.org (February 2010)

Presentations:

• Roundtable on Indian security, ISSS/ISAC Annual Conference in Providence, Rhode Island (October 2010)
• Naval Military Effectiveness: selected for presentation at the ISSS/ISAC Annual Conference in Monterey, California (October 2009)
• Honor in International Relations: selected as one of eight papers to be presented at the Princeton Conference in Political Psychology and Policymaking (October 2008), later presented at Harvard Research Workshop in International Relations: New Approaches to Security Studies (December 2008)
• British Foreign Policy 1997-2007: An Ideational Explanation: presented at Fifth Graduate Student Workshop on Comparative Foreign and Security Policy, Harvard University (January 2008)

Forthcoming book reviews:

• Regime change: US Strategy Through the Prism of 9/11, International Journal on World Peace (forthcoming)
• Spectrum: from Left to Right in the World of Ideas, Journal of Economic Issues (forthcoming)
• Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics; East Asian Multilateralism, Political Studies Review(forthcoming)

Book reviews:

• Review of Arming Without Aiming: India’s Military Modernization, RUSI Journal (2011)
• Review of India and the United States in the 21st Century: Reinventing Partnership, International Affairs (2010)
• Review of Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy, Asian Affairs (2010)
• Review of India: The Rise of an Asian Giant, British Scholar [book of the month] (2009)
• Review of Donald Rumsfeld: an American Disaster, Capital & Class (2009)
• Review of Adam Smith in Beijing, Europe-Asia Studies (2009)
• Review of American Global Strategy and the War on Terrorism and Exodus From Empire: The Fall of America’s Empire and the Rise of the Global Community, LSE Millennium Journal of International Studies (2008)