Strategic Analysis
Strategic Analysis is the bimonthly journal of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi. It is published by Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, United Kingdom.
For subscription and other details, please visit the Routledge website
The Journal provides a forum for independent research, analyses, and commentaries on national, regional and international security issues that have policy relevance. It seeks to promote a better understanding of Indian thinking on contemporary national and international themes. The Journal reflects a diversity of views from the strategic and international relations studies community both from within and outside India. The flagship in the IDSA stable of publications, Strategic Analysis began as a monthly journal in April 1977 and served as a medium for publishing commentaries on current events. From early 1987, its contents came to include both research articles as well as commentaries on national and international developments. It was transformed into a quarterly, refereed, journal in 2002. Routledge has been publishing the journal in a bi-monthly format since January 2007.
Scholars and analysts are welcome to submit well-researched papers for publication in this refereed journal.
Submissions should be directed to Ms. Rashi Garg, Associate Editor at strategicanalysis.idsa@gmail.com
Guidelines for contributors [+]
Current Issue: September-October 2025
The fifth issue of 2025 brings together a compelling set of contributions that map the shifting contours of contemporary geopolitics, security dilemmas, and regional transformations. The lead article examines intensifying strategic competition between the United States and China in Southeast Asia through the lens of offensive realism, highlighting implications for regional order. Another study explores how fear shapes nuclear decision-making, focusing on Pakistan’s trajectory. Complementing this, a paper analyses the shifting counterterrorism landscape involving China, the Taliban, and Pakistan, underscoring the erosion of established frameworks. Additional contributions investigate socio-religious change in Central Asia, reassess India’s maritime security architecture, and evaluate Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) approach in shaping defence export strategies. The issue also addresses emerging challenges in space governance, particularly the strategic ambiguity surrounding dual-use satellite technologies.
The Commentaries turn to pressing diplomatic and security developments. It examines the implications of a potential Saudi–Pakistan defence partnership for India’s West Asia policy, reflects on India’s evolving positioning within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and analyses the growing tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban.
The Strategic Essays offer a blend of reflection and forward-looking analysis, revisiting the legacy and future of the Indus Waters Treaty, exploring patterns of political mobilisation in Nepal, and assessing India’s expanding role as a preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean Region.
Finally, the From the Archives section revisits enduring questions of defence decision-making, providing valuable historical insight into institutional processes that continue to shape strategic policy in the present.
Archives [+]
