Debating the Past: Nehru, China and Lessons from 1962 War The year 2022 marks the 60th anniversary of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. Fought over a period of one month, the war is seen as one of the watersheds in the history of India–China relations. Besides creating a considerable dent in bilateral ties, it also led New Delhi to revamp its defence and military infrastructure. Incidentally, in terms of research on China studies in India, the war proved to be a defining moment of transition. Mayuri Banerjee November 2022 Strategic Analysis
China’s South Asia Policy The first half of 1971 witnessed some significant developments in South Asia: the emergence of a liberation movement for an independent Bangla Desh, the Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) insurgency in Ceylon and the landslide electoral victory of Smt. Gandhi in India. These developments came at a time when China, in the aftermath of the decisions taken at the Ninth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, had begun implementing a reactivated tactical line in foreign policy. K. N. Ramachandran November 2022 Strategic Analysis
‘Strategising’ the India-EU Partnership India’s foreign policy, as in the case of any other sovereign state, aims at protecting and promoting the country’s ‘national interest.’ Strategic autonomy, which has been its defining value and goal, remains at the core of India’s global engagements. India maintains political, diplomatic, economic, strategic, science and technological, and cultural relations to achieve a stable, secure, peaceful, and prosperous India. The largest ‘democracy’ in the world, India, joins hands with the EU, the largest cluster of ‘democracies’ in the world. Manoj Babu Buraga November 2022 Strategic Analysis
Quad and the Indo-Pacific: Examining the Balance of Interest Theory in Quad Coalition In light of China’s rise, the Quad coalition has gained momentum in its efforts to maintain a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). While scholars have discussed the relevance of Quad, little work has been done to theorize the balancing behaviour of individual Quad countries. This article examines Randall Schweller’s Balance of Interest theory—which emphasizes the underlying ‘profit motives’ in alliance formations—in the Quad coalition. Adarsh Badri November 2022 Strategic Analysis
Colonialism Matters: Benefits of Metropoles with a Focus on India and Great Britain The history of colonialism normally focusses on the socio-economic losses of colonies, and the benefits of metropoles are a much less-studied field. Our study indicates that the flow of resources, rent and personal wealth should not be downplayed as factors of economic growth in the key Empires, although information on most subjects is limited. This importance could be demonstrated (although not fully quantitatively evaluated) by India–United Kingdom relations before 1913. Leonid Grigoryev , Alexandra Morozkina November 2022 Strategic Analysis
New Russia-West Confrontation: War of Attrition or Escalation? The article analyses the ongoing Russia-West confrontation manifested mainly in the armed conflict in Ukraine, the world’s largest war of sanctions, a growing confrontation in cyberspace and politics, the erosion of the system of arms control treaties and a sharp reduction of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere. Russia and the West are fighting not only for influence in Ukraine but also over the future of international relations on a global scale in the coming decades. Konstantin Khudoley November 2022 Strategic Analysis
A Decade of US ‘Pivot to Asia’ The Biden administration has further reinforced and strengthened US strategic priorities towards the Indo-Pacific, a decade after the ‘Pivot to Asia’ by the Obama administration. Anushka Saxena October 27, 2022 IDSA Comments
The Reality of AI Drones: Are they Overhyped? Drones, often referred to as ‘dull, dirty and dangerous’, are fast becoming crucial to militaries around the world as a force multiplier Kritika Roy October-December 2022 Journal of Defence Studies
Drone Warfare: History, Evolution and Future When Tesla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk, in a room full of US Air Force personnel, asserted that autonomous drone warfare is the future and will replace fighter jets, it sparked a controversial but crucial debate.1 The decade post 9/11 saw the proliferation of drones in the military domain. Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used extensively to disable conventional weapon systems in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Ukraine. Hence comes the conundrum of replaceability and disruptiveness of conventional warfare vis-à-vis drone warfare. Krutika Patil October-December 2022 Journal of Defence Studies
Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS): Future of Warfare The history of war is replete with instances where a nation that has effectively, and innovatively harnessed technology has been victorious. From innovations stem revolutions in military warfare, and the current world order is witnessing a very profound and rapid revolution through the employment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), be it in conventional conflicts such as Nagorno–Karabakh (Azerbaijan–Armenia), the current Russia–Ukraine conflict or the unconventional ‘Global War on Terror’ in Afghanistan. Apratim Sharma October-December 2022 Journal of Defence Studies
