By Madhav Ghimire: 

Nepal is at a crossroads. A comprehensive peace accord in 2006 capped a decade of protracted Nepalese armed conflict. In the years since, Nepal’s leaders have worked to build a resilient and inclusive political system capable of dealing effectively with the country’s internal and external challenges alike. Those challenges remain daunting. Geo-strategically located between two rising powers—India and China—Nepal faces an array of both traditional and non-traditional security concerns, including border management, environmental threats, food and energy crises, population growth and migration, terrorism, and trafficking in arms and persons. At a moment when Nepal’s political elites are debating the provisions of a new federal constitution, they would do well to consider the need for a new comprehensive national security architecture—including a redesigned National Security Council (NSC). Nepal’s neighbors and friends, including the United States, also have considerable interest in seeing reforms that enable Kathmandu to deal holistically and proactively with the challenges that lie ahead.

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