GSTAR Op-ed Series

Significance of Aerospace Security

The International Conference on Global Security Threat and Response (GSTAR-2022) was organised by Islamabad’s leading think-tank, the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) on 19-20 October 2022. One of the primary purposes of the Conference was to review aerospace security at global as well as regional levels, for which subject experts from across the globe were invited to speak in a hybrid mode. Those distinguished speakers who could not present their papers in person made virtual presentations. The speakers dilated on the significance of aerospace power and there was consensus that aerospace security is going to be a major concern for all stakeholders in the coming decades. Taking a line from Professor James Wirtz, there is a general tendency among the global players not to criticise each other for developing a particular weapon system, no matter how harmful it may be…… Read More

Emerging Technologies and Future Warfare

Technological advancements have brought about revolutionary changes in every walk of life on Earth. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, satellite communications, robotics, and biometrics, etc., with rapidly enhancing characteristics and widening scopes have resulted in the formation of hundreds of newer systems. Resultantly, these systems have impacted life on Earth – and beyond as well. On the one hand, these technologies have awed humans with the great strides that they have made to heal and help human life. But on the other, the same technologies when applied in military domains have the potential to unleash destruction and devastation on an unprecedented level. The ever-broadening role of these technologies in … Read More

Significance of Aerospace Power: GSTAR is Back!"

The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) is organising the Second Edition of its flagship International Conference ‘Global Strategic Threat & Response’ (GSTAR) on 19-20 October 2022. The first GSTAR was held on 4-5 March 2020. This year’s conference is being held at a time when the global threats related to climate change, Pandemic recovery, enhanced activities in space, and concerns for energy and food security due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, are unprecedented at national, regional, and international levels.
This article is aimed at highlighting the significance of this year’s GSTAR at each level mentioned above….. Read More

International Security Environment: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities

Recent international security issues like the Russia-Ukraine war, brinkmanship on Taiwan issue, US-China rivalry, Indo-Pacific Strategy, aggressive North Korean testing of strategic capabilities, and uncertain Afghanistan situation, among others, are manifestations of extreme geopolitical polarisation where states are taking unilateral rather than cooperative approaches to addressing issues at hand.
In the contemporary context of intensifying geopolitical competitions, the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) is organising an international conference ‘Global Strategic Threat and Response’ (GSTAR) 2022 from 19-20 October 2022. The first working session of the two-day international conference will cover the international security environment and its emerging challenges and opportunities…… Read More

Geoeconomics and the Asia-Pacific Region

First coined by geostrategist Edward Luttwak in 1990 to describe economics as the primary domain for rivalry among countries in the post-Cold War era, ‘geoeconomics’ has gained notable prominence in theory and practice, particularly over the past decade. ‘Geoeconomics’ encompasses ‘the conversion of economic assets into political influence and the mobilization of political power to achieve economic objectives through a mix of competition and cooperation.’ Leading international think tanks such as the Council of Foreign Relations, Chatham House, and the European Council of Foreign Relations, among others, have produced an expansive body of research on the subject. In practice, states have been increasingly pursuing their political and strategic objectives through economic means. Some of its most prominent demonstrations….. Read More