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...

Power and Diplomacy: India’s Foreign Policies during the Cold War, by Zorawar Daulet Singh

Realpolitik and its terminology have dominated the discourse on the conduct and behaviour of states in ‘anarchical’ international environment. Concepts like balance of power (BoP) and security dilemma continue to...

China’s India War: Collision Course on the Roof of the World, by Bertil Lintner

In the autumn of 1962, two worlds collided. After long-standing confrontations in disputed border areas, China unleashed its military machinery on India and triumphed. The spectre of the war haunts...

India and China in Asia: Between Equilibrium and Equations, edited by Jagannath P. Panda

India and China in Asia: Between Equilibrium and Equations, edited by Jagannath P. Panda, is a significant contribution among the latest books and volumes on India–China relations. The volume is...

Achieving Jointness in War: One Theatre One Strategy

The creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a start to defence reforms. This should improve jointmanship in peacetime; however, joint wartime performance needs further reform and improvement....

Naval Modernisation in Southeast Asia: Problems and Prospects for Small and Medium Navies edited by Geoffrey Till and Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto

Against the backdrop of growing competition between the US and China, maritime security has become a high priority in the strategic policy narratives of most Southeast Asian countries. The book,...

Roby Thomas |
January-June 2020 |
Journal of Defence Studies

International Trends and the Evolving Role of the Integrated Financial Adviser in Defence

The Indian economy’s development over the past decades has given rise to complex challenges. Policy makers thus needed to make institutional changes in financial management systems. In the system of...

Human Capital for the Department of Military Affairs

The creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defence portends better civil-military cooperation. That India’s civil-military cooperation was in need of structural reform was never...

Illicit Drug Trafficking and Financing of Terrorism: The Case of Islamic State, Al Qaeda and their Affiliate Groups

The revenue generated from the drug trafficking business constitutes a fifth of the organised crime revenues, with annual worldwide value of the trade estimated to be around $650 billion. As...

Influence of Alfred Thayer Mahan on Japanese Maritime Strategy

The Imperial Japanese Navy’s (IJN) resurgence during the Meiji Restoration was challenged by the absence of maritime capability and an equivalent strategic underpinning. In turn, the IJN reached out to...

United Nations Peace Operations: Personal Experiences and Reflections

We are passing through a decisive stage in the history of the international system. The threat of war between great states, or nuclear confrontation between major powers, is well behind...

A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Traditional Peace Operations

Despite decades of experience in peace operations, most United Nations (UN) operations have faced serious criticism for being unable to implement the mandate. At the same time, while the UN...

A.K. Bardalai |
October-December 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Why We Fight, by Mike Martin

Desire (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), attachment (moha) and ego (ahankar) are the five basic causes of human irrationality. In violence, one of the most significant human irrationality, intertwined strands...

Understanding Ethical Behaviour towards Better Institutional Functioning in the Armed Forces

At the heart of ethical choices lies the complex interplay between individual intentions and environmental vectors. Factors such as stress, misguided motivations and the failure to handle positional power make...

Ankush Banerjee |
October-December 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

The Long-term Effects of UK Defence Privatisation: Lessons for India?

This article argues that privatisation of defence has failed to achieve the objectives of increased competition (between producers) leading to increased choice and reduced costs (to purchasers). Instead, costs have...

Jonathan S. Swift |
October-December 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Gilgit-Baltistan and its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations, by Alok Bansal

In general, the contemporary and historical narrative of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is mostly woven through the prism of Kashmir issue, disregarding comprehensive information about strategically important regions like Ladakh...

Zainab Akhter |
October-December 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Guardians of God: Inside the Religious Mind of Pakistani Taliban, by Mona Kanwal Sheikh

In the recent past, several Islamist movements promising to re-establish the pristine political system dating back to the days of the Prophet have captured the mind of believers. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan...

The McMahon Line: A Century of Discord, by J.J. Singh

The Sino-Indian boundary dispute remains the most enduring and challenging problem that bedevils relations between India and China. With a history of well over a century of differences on the...

Vivek Chadha |
October-December 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

China’s DF-41 Ballistic Missile Deployment and the Impact on its Nuclear Deterrence

The deployment of the DF-41 ballistic missile in China shows that the nature of its nuclear posture is at a critical stage of evolution. On the one hand, the deployment...