Complex Emergencies and Politial Instability in Asia

The September issue of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project’s Conflict Trends Report analyzes recent trends in political violence in Asia. The report includes briefs on the uptick of riots and protests in India, with cow slaughter triggering caste violence; the rise in ISIS activity in Bangladesh, which includes July’s hostage crisis in which 20 hostages were killed; and an examination of the highly differing rates in political violence in the Pakistan- and Indian-administered halves of territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr. Zoltan Barany, a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar, recently published the report “Armed Forces and Democratization in Myanmar: Why the U.S. Military Should Engage the Tatmadaw” with the Center for Strategic & International Studies, where he also serves as a senior associate. In his report, Dr. Barany argues that the United States military should engage the Tatmadaw (the Burmese military) with aims of encouraging and supporting a speedy professionalization process and continued withdrawal from the political sphere.

The Strauss Center’s Complex Emergencies and Political Stability in Asia (CEPSA) program has released the new CEPSA climate dashboard, an online platform that displays data on physical, socio-economic, demographic, and political insecurities to assess how these factors contribute to “climate security” vulnerability in South and Southeast Asia.

The Strauss Center’s program on Complex Emergencies and Political Stability in Asia (CEPSA) has developed a methodology to determine areas of climate security vulnerability in South and Southeast Asia. The CEPSA Climate Security Vulnerability Model v1.0 (ACSV 1.0), developed by Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar Dr. Joshua Busby, CEPSA Consultant Todd Smith, CEPSA Research Assistant Nisha Krishnan, and former CEPSA GIS Research Assistant Charles Wight, currently focuses on 11 countries in Asia and identifies areas of chronic climate security vulnerability.