Equilibrium in Higher Defence Organisation and the Need for Restructuring The article deals with the issue of the necessity of identifying and maintaining equilibrium between the two key constituents of the higher defence organisation (HDO) of the country, namely, the civil bureaucrats and the service officers. In India, the military and the bureaucracy share a very delicate relationship. Though the protocol issues between the various appointments have been defined by the government, there is a requirement of greater clarity in the working relationship between them. Rajneesh Singh | April 2016 | Journal of Defence Studies
War and State-Building in Afghanistan: Historical and Modern Perspectives, edited by Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy War and State-Building in Afghanistan deals with one of South Asia’s most turbulent states, Afghanistan, and its socio-political and military conditions. This book also traces the processes that have shaped the geopolitics of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been occupied by the Mughals, British, Soviets, Americans and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The book looks at their efforts at counter-insurgency (COIN) operations in the last five centuries ranging from 1520 to 2012. Manas Dutta | April 2016 | Journal of Defence Studies
Peacekeeping or Peace Enforcement: Principal Dilemma Surrounding United Nations Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic Of Congo The TCC have to shed their colonial legacies and participate in UN peacekeeping on equal terms rather than merely being service providers. It is necessary that the UNSC decisions are more inclusive and reflective of the new world order. Vikrant Deshpande | April-June 2016 | Africa Trends
Security Council Resolution 2292 on Libya: Respite or Hazard? Libya today is a highly fragmented state with porous borders and unidentified alliance formations. In this scenario, a resolution to partially lift the arms embargo may have widespread undesirable consequences. Untitled | April-June 2016 | Africa Trends
The Mauritius-India Naval Relationship: Naval Diplomacy 2.0 At relatively little cost to either party, a mutually beneficial partnership has evolved over the decades, with the NCG and India being inextricably intertwined. It is to the credit of both countries that this relationship has lasted and thrived and continues to grow stronger without undue fanfare or hype and without, thus far, any tangible problems. Sanjay Badri-Maharaj | April-June 2016 | Africa Trends
The Importance of the Spies in Ancient Indian Diplomacy Intelligence studies is a sub-discipline of international relations though in India, the subject is yet to become part of the academic curriculum. The topic has been covered in detail in Kautilya’s Arthashastra. In ancient Indian traditions, intelligence has always been an important part of statecraft. The book under review is written in Hindi, aided with Sanskrit sutras as notes. Tushar Shrivastav | April 2016 | Journal of Defence Studies
1962: The War That Wasn’t, by Kunal Verma The title of the book is self-explanatory. And the tone and tenor thereof is an implied challenge to the conventional wisdom, and thesis, propounded in India’s China War, written by British scribe Neville Maxwell in the 1970s. According to Verma, in 1949, ‘China was not a player as far as India’s national security was concerned.’ None, except Sardar Patel, could read, or anticipate, China and its plan of action. Hence, the 1962 India–China conflict is ‘least understood’. Exactly a month before his death, however, Patel wrote a warning letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru. Abhijit Bhattacharyya | April 2016 | Journal of Defence Studies
Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper: An Indian Perspective Australia’s comprehensive strategic approach towards the Indo-Pacific region and a renewed interest in the Indian Ocean has served to rekindle its relationship with India. Australia’s recently released 2016 Defence White Paper (DWP 2016) demonstrates that a growing convergence in strategic approaches can be discerned as Australia looks West and India begins to ‘Act East’. Udai Bhanu Singh | April 2016 | Journal of Defence Studies
DPP-2016: An Analytical Overview Introduction of the ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ procurement category, the revamped ‘Make’ procedure, structural change in AAP, and higher and flexible indigenous content requirement in certain procurement categories are all likely to deepen the involvement of domestic industry in defence production. Laxman Kumar Behera | April 12, 2016 | Special Feature
Transfer of Defence Technology: A Critical Analysis ‘Transfer of Technology’ does not magically elevate defence production capabilities to cutting-edge levels and help attain future self-reliance because technology sellers employ restrictive trade practices to prevent such an eventuality. Kevin A. Desouza | April 12, 2016 | IDSA Comments
