Publication Filter

From Smart Power to Sharp Power: How China Promotes her National Interests

Authoritarian regimes are increasingly taking recourse to sharp power as a preferred means of realising national interests. Sharp power weaves an intricate web of responses short of war, such as coercion, persuasion, political power, and inducements to further a nation’s interests, all the while concealing a long stick. China, in particular, has perfected the art of using sharp power in recent years, often investing large political capital and monies to impose its will on nations all over the globe.

India’s Quest for Recognition

India’s quest for being recognized even as a regional power, let alone a global power, requires a balanced and simultaneous growth of its economic and military capabilities.

The 2018 Meeting of States Parties (MSP) on Biological Weapons Convention: An Assessment

The Eighth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention which was held in Geneva during 07-25 November 2016 had an extremely disappointing outcome. This Review Conference, as is now widely… Continue reading The 2018 Meeting of States Parties (MSP) on Biological Weapons Convention: An Assessment

Manish
July-December 2018
CBW Magazine

Stop Turning a Blind Eye to Tear Gas Misuse

Riot control agents (RCAs), which are commonly known as tear gas and pepper spray, are defined by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) as “any chemical not listed” in one of… Continue reading Stop Turning a Blind Eye to Tear Gas Misuse

Michael Crowley
July-December 2018
CBW Magazine

China’s Hydro Ambitions and the Brahmaputra

The upper riparian China is uniquely positioned to influence the flow of Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra into lower riparian India. In the absence of a water sharing treaty, the Chinese decision to build more dams on Yarlung/Brahmaputra and continued evasiveness on its long-term plans would remain an issue of major concern for India.

Unpacking UK Combat Air Strategy

The UK Combat Air Strategy unveiled on July 16, 2018 can actually be termed as the Combat Aircraft Industry Strategy. India, with a nearly non-existing aircraft industry, can benefit by understanding the key rationales underpinning the CAS.

Indian Aircraft Industry: Possible Innovations for Success in the Twenty-First Century, by Vivek Kapur

Taking off in 1940 with the establishment of Hindustan Aircraft Limited (later named Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL), the Indian aviation industry has grown in spurts over the past seven decades and more. During the initial phase, HAL provided maintenance support to various combat aircraft of the allied forces in World War II and, subsequently, commenced licenced production of combat aircraft. After Independence in 1947 and its nationalisation, HAL grew in strength to design combat aircraft.

India’s Defence Diplomacy with Southeast Asia: An Impetus to Act East

India’s Act East policy is delivering results its approach towards Southeast Asia. India’s improving stature in the region along with other key geopolitical players has heralded its arrival as a major regional power in the power matrix. In fact, India is in a unique position in the region in terms of defence and military engagement and must explore this potential further. India satisfies all the attributes needed for robust interaction in the military sphere.

Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Indian Strategic Culture and Grand Strategic Preferences

The utility of the theory of strategic culture to explain the choices nation-states make is still to be convincingly proven. Alastair Iain Johnston has provided a viable notion of strategic culture that is falsifiable, its formation traced empirically, and its effect on state behaviour differentiated from other non-ideational variables. Following his methodological framework, Kautilya’s Arthashastra is identified as the ‘formative’ ideational strategic text which is assessed to illuminate Indian strategic culture.

Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence, by Steven I. Wilkinson

Steven I. Wilkinson’s work on the Indian Army and its relationship to Indian democracy is mandatory reading for scholars interested in civil-military relations. Ironically, despite the voluminous literature on civil-military relations in the Subcontinent, it is still an understudied subject. Wilkinson’s book breaks new ground by giving the reader a distinct assessment of the evolution of civil-military relations in India vis-à-vis those in Pakistan.