109th Edition

Strategic Survey 2009

Edited By IISS Copyright 2009
    424 Pages
    by Routledge

    422 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Strategic Survey is a journal of records that includes all relevant names and titles, chronologies and dates. But it is also much more: the hard facts are embossed in considered and nuanced analysis over 300 pages of text. The Strategic Survey opens with 'Perspectives', an assessment of the effect of major events and trends on the strategic landscape. Next, particular strategic policy issues, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, missile defence and the future of peacekeeping, are examined in separate chapters.

    Another eighteen to twenty chapters of similar length, written along thematic rather than merely chronological lines, cover developments in particular regions or countries. The Strategic Survey concludes with 'Prospectives', an essay setting forth strategic priorities for the coming year. Also included are thirty-two pages of maps depicting strategically important activity and political change - such as piracy and Russia's new federal districts - globally, regionally and locally.

    The interplay of political developments and the actual or potential use of military force remains The Strategic Survey's chief concern. Nevertheless, since the end of the Cold War and of the first distinct post-Cold War period, the Institute has recognised that any survey of matters strategic needs to broaden its scope to embrace economic

    Events at a Glance July 2008-June 2009 -- Chapter 1 Perspectives -- Chapter 2 Strategic Policy Issues -- Countering Modern Terrorist Threats -- Europe's Energy Security -- Towards a New Asian Security Architecture -- Chapter 3 North America -- The United States: The Primacy of Politics -- Canada: Conservatives'Tenuous Hold -- Chapter 4 Latin America -- Mexico: Drug-war Escalation -- Colombia: FARC Down but not Out -- Venezuela: A Decade of the Bolivarian Revolution -- Bolivia:'Refounding'a Polarised Nation -- Ecuador's New Constitution -- Peru: Domestic Backlash -- Brazil: Lula's Leadership -- Argentina: The Kirchners'Decline -- Cuba's Shifting Relationships -- Nicaragua: Ortega's Move toward Autocracy -- Haiti: Steps toward Stability -- Chapter 5 Europe -- Developments in European Defence -- France: A Year of Paradoxes -- Germany: Vulnerabilities in an Election Year -- United Kingdom: Political Drift -- Sluggishness in the Balkans -- Turkey: Continuing Domestic Wrangles -- Chapter 6 Russia -- Chapter 7 Middle East / Gulf -- Iran: Election Sparks Protests, Nuclear Programme Advances -- Middle East: New US Impetus Faces Old Challenges -- Iraq: Nation Gathers Strength Saudi Arabia and the -- Gulf: Cautious Modernisation -- Chapter 8 Africa -- Crossroads in South Africa -- Cohabitation in Zimbabwe -- Somalia: Anarchy and Piracy -- Persisting Intra-state Crises -- Chapter 9 South Asia and Afghanistan -- Pakistan: Political Fragility -- Afghanistan: Insurgency Grows -- India: Elections Bolster Stability -- Sri Lanka: Civil War Ends -- Bangladesh: Military-backed Rule Ends -- Nepal: Arguments Obstruct Peace Process -- Chapter 10 Asia-Pacific -- China: Caution Tempers Rising Status -- Southeast Asia: Political and Security Questions -- Australia and New Zealand: Defence Policy Shifts -- The Korean Peninsula: Diplomacy Derailed -- Japan: Politics Overshadows Security Issues -- Chapter 11 Prospectives -- Index -- Strategic Geography (after p. 212) -- Global Issues Global recession -- Slump in container trade -- Africa Anti-piracy operations off Somalia -- Middle East/Gulf West Bank settlements -- Iran's disputed election -- Asia-Pacific Afghanistan: military supply routes -- The rise of Pakistan's Taliban -- Confrontation in the Korean peninsula -- The Americas America's decaying infrastructure -- Drug-cartel violence in Mexico -- Index of Regional Maps -- North America -- Latin America -- Europe -- Russia / Eurasia -- Middle East -- Africa -- South Asia -- Asia-Pacific.

    Biography

    The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)