Publication Filter

‘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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

AI and the Future of Air Combat in India

In his autobiography Hawkeye, Israeli fighter ace Giora Even-Epstein recalls flying the Fighting Falcon F-16, and comments that “Flying an F-16 was different than any other plane I’d ever flown. It felt like it was the computer more than the pilot that was flying the plane.”

Maintenance Ecosystem of Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in Military Aviation

India’s commercial drone industry is growing and the drone market is expected to become a multi-billion-dollar industry over the next decade. In this drone era, the smaller drone systems, that is, small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) are also gaining traction in Indian armed forces for use in Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) and as armed sUAS for kamikaze role.