Journal of Defence Studies

UN Peacekeeping in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2003–2010: An Operational Perspective for Air Power Employment

Air power has played a critical role in counter-insurgency and irregular warfare across the world. India’s own rich experience is full of documented roles of air power in such campaigns. This article...

Cybersecurity and Threats: Cyberterrorism and the Order Today

The ever-growing dependence of man on cybernetworks has unbridled a modish genre of cyberthreat called cyberterrorism. The pervasive cyberspace has provided an advantageous operational frontier to the terrorists for executing...

Internal Security: A Psychological Approach by Major General Sanjay Bhide

In the larger national strategic discourse, identifying and prioritising the internal security issues and challenges is very crucial. India has been grappling with multiple ‘identity-centric’ and ‘grievance-driven’ challenges that have...

Strategic Salience of the Gwadar Port: An Analytical Study

Gwadar Port has gained currency in the light of recent international developments that are increasingly focused on maritime-related economic activities. It has become an important reference point for people discussing...

Sindhu Dinesh |
January-March 2021 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Biological Weapons: Coronavirus, Weapon of Mass Destruction? by U.C. Jha and K. Ratnabali

War, when all else fails. The reasons for war could be ideological or for greater control over finite resources but war invariably has violence at its epicentre. Ethics and wars...

Demystifying Trade Warfare

Historically, navies have been employed for the conduct of trade warfare. However, naval discourse on the subject has ranged from advocacy as prime employment of naval power to relegation as...

Himadri Bose |
January-March 2021 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Asymmetric Competition Ahead for Indian Air Power

This article deliberates on some ‘disruptive’ issues that will affect employment, doctrine, force development and the very future of exclusive manned air power. Currently, causing asymmetry on the battlefield is...

Rajesh Isser |
January-March 2021 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Brendan Taylor, American Sanctions in the Asia Pacific

Brendan Taylor claims that his book is the first systematic analysis of American sanction policy in the Asia-Pacific during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The book...

The Costliest Pearl: China’s Struggle for India’s Ocean by Bertil Lintner

The ‘string of pearls’ is a western narrative about China’s economic and/or military engagements with countries in the Indian Ocean littorals with a strategic outlook of encircling the Indian peninsula....

M. Doraibabu |
October-December 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Learning from Russia: Comparing Russian and Chinese Military Reforms

Understanding the Chinese Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) has been a challenge for military thinkers and planners due to opacity and secrecy within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This article...

Mandip Singh |
October-December 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

India’s China Challenge by Ananth Krishnan

Ananth Krishan’s book, India’s China Challenge, is a notable examination of the challenge posed to India by the meteoric rise of China. Krishnan’s stay in China as a journalist for...

Himadri Bose |
October-December 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Nuclear Attack Submarines: The Elixir for a True Blue-Water Navy

India’s tryst with its destiny for the twenty-first century will greatly depend upon how it prioritises its strategic necessities in the face of current Covid-19-induced economic crisis. While still on...

Roby Thomas |
October-December 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR): Assessment of the Pakistan Military’s Discreet Propaganda Factory Post-1990

The ISPR was founded in 1949 as the public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. However, its role, responsibilities and activities have expanded notably over the last three decades....

Divya Malhotra |
October-December 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Assessment of Chinese Military Modernisation and its Implications for India by P.K. Chakraborty

China has had a chequered relationship with India since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Beijing views India as a strategic rival and appears to...

Atul Pant |
July-September 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems under Existing Norms of International Humanitarian Law

This article explores the position of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) under the existing rules of international humanitarian law (IHL). It argues that though the existing rules of IHL are...

Human Rights in the Indian Armed Forces: An Analysis of Article 33 by U.C. Jha and Sanghamitra Choudhury

The armed forces are one of the most powerful tools to ensure safety and security of the state from external aggressions. This duty may call upon armed forces personnel to...

Leveraging India’s Maritime Diplomacy

It would have been difficult to visualise the current scenario in Sino-Indian relations just before COVID-19 overtook the world narrative. This was considering the immense political capital poured into the...

Roby Thomas |
July-September 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Russo-Japanese War: An Examination of Limited War Strategy

The Russo-Japanese War was fought well over a hundred years ago and symbolised the rise of Japan, as it defeated Russia by executing a near-perfect limited war strategy. Japan incisively...

Himadri Bose |
July-September 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Contemporary Technology in Peacekeeping Operations

Since the Cold War, United Nations peacekeeping has evolved from monitoring peace treaties to multidimensional peacekeeping operations tasked with rebuilding states and their institutions during and after conflict. In June...

The Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats, and the Military in India by Anit Mukherjee

Defence, a subset of national security, is an intricate subject. Primarily, defence policy and plans of a state emerge from its national security strategy to achieve its national goals. What...