Q & A Archive

After talks in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony announced an agreement to resume joint military exercises, a move that signaled “a thaw in relations.” The two countries had suspended joint military exercises two years ago. But while this latest agreement seems to signal a renewed effort to improve ties, serious strains remain in the relationship between the two emerging Asian powers. For Jagannath P. Panda, a research fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, the major points of contention in the defense and security realm between China […]

Australia recently signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates to provide uranium for the Persian Gulf country’s planned nuclear power plants. In an email interview, Fethi Mansouri, the director of the Center for Citizenship and Globalization at Deakin University, Australia, and the author of “Australia and the Middle East: a Frontline Relationship,” discussed Australia-Middle East relations. WPR: What is the recent history of Australia’s diplomatic and trade relations with the Middle East? Fethi Mansouri: Australia’s interest in and relationship with the Middle East was initially shaped by its early involvement in the imperial defense system led by Britain, which […]

Qatar is reportedly in discussions with Germany to purchase 200 Leopard-2 tanks at a cost of roughly $2.5 billion. In an email interview, Christian Mölling, an associate in the international security division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), discussed Germany’s arms industry. WPR: What is the current state of Germany’s arms industry? Christian Mölling: German defense companies produce world-class products in the areas of armored vehicles and tanks as well as submarines and to some extent surface ships and electronics. There is no purely German company left in the aerospace sector, since they have been integrated […]