A Round Table Discussion on the ‘Efficacy of India’s Nuclear Doctrine in the Context of Pakistan’s Tactical Nuclear Weapons’ (TNWs) was held at the VIF. It began with a presentation by Brig Gurmeet Kanwal, Visiting Fellow, VIF, to outline the characteristics of TNWs, its impact on strategic stability in South Asia, nuclear scenarios and options for India, and need for review of India’s Nuclear Doctrine. The discussion established that even if battlefield or TNWs are used against purely military targets, the effect would be strategic.

Author’s Note The previous paper by this author, while addressing the broader concerns and implications of Daesh for the Indian context, built on theoretical insights from multidisciplinary domains in pursuit of a possible counter-narrative to the violence, hate and prejudice suffused by the extremist master-narrative in what is essentially emerging as a ‘war of, and for ideas’. This paper, in continuation of preceding efforts, attempts to view the challenge of radicalization and violent extremism through the prism of the ‘epidemiological metaphor’.

Rise of a Demonic Force: Daesh

The Vivekananda International Foundation, in collaboration with Facebook and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi organized a conference on the theme of ‘Opportunities for Multi-Stakeholder Partnership to Prevent and Counter Radicalization and Violent Extremism’ on the 16th-17th January 2017. This was a follow-up of the first such initiative which was hosted by the VIF, in association with the University of Maryland National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), the U.S.