Journal of Defence Studies

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 draw the attention of students of international politics. It has been argued, or presumed, that in the security-driven environment of the international system, foreign policies of individual states are externally driven.

• Nazir Ahmad Mir |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 both sides to this day, as it was shown by the Doklam stand-off in 2017. Understanding the past could guide us in the present, but we still lack the full picture of Indian and Chinese decision making in the run-up to 1962. The second part of the Henderson Brooks Report remains classified and Chinese primary documentation is elusive on the topic.

• Daniel Balazs |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 divided into three parts. The first part largely deals with perceptual dimensions impacting and defining bilateral relations. The second part takes a stock of critical strategic concerns essentially of bilateral nature, such as the possibility of a local war between the two countries, the boundary dispute and the lingering Tibet factor between them.

• Prashant Kumar Singh |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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. We face three problems: (i) historical lack of unified warfighting strategy formulation at the apex military level; (ii) the unclear division of responsibility and resources between service Chiefs and Commanders-in-Chief (C-in-Cs); and (iii) the differing natures of command and control between the three services, which manifest as differences in structural organisations.

• Ashish Singh |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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, Naval Modernisation in Southeast Asia: Problems and Prospects for Small and Medium Navies, edited by Geoffrey Till and Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto, analyses the varying problems and challenges faced by small and medium navies in Southeast Asia as they seek to increase their maritime power in response to their perceptions of strategic necessity.

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

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 Financial Advice, the Financial Advisers are expected to provide independent financial advice to the administrative authorities in decision making for achieving organisational goals. Allocated resources are to be spent timely and prudently in the prescribed manner to achieve predefined outcomes. Integrated Financial Advice (IFA) in defence has also developed and evolved in recent years.

• Sumati Kumar |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 doubted. Yet, the implementation of such reform lacked political will, faced bureaucratic resistance, and was stymied by elements within the armed services.

• Prakash Menon |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 the trafficking of drugs provides a lucrative opportunity, transnational terror groups such as Al- Qaeda, the Islamic State and their affiliates are increasingly using illicit drug trade to fund their expenses and operational costs. Further, with the increasing surveillance of the funding routes of terror by the security forces, the traditional sources of revenue have dried up.

• Yashasvi Chandra |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 Western navies to develop its capability and establish its maritime moorings. The musings of Alfred Thayer Mahan served to fill this void. The IJN studied Mahan’s tenets and became particularly fixated on certain ideas which fuelled their tactics and hardened their war plans.

• Himadri Bose |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 us and, in fact, fading in our memory. However, new and diverse forms of threats, some clear and present, others only dimly perceived, are testing our resolve and questioning the validity of our existing mechanisms. Developments at the international level over the last two decades have exposed deep divisions within the membership of the United Nations (UN) over fundamental policies on peace and security.

• Satish Nambiar |
• January-June 2020 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 is in the process of establishing a clear framework for performance evaluation, as of now, there are no standard criteria to judge the performance of a peace operation. Therefore, it will be unfair to make only the peace operation missions accountable because of their inability to implement the mandate.

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

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 of all these five factors can be seen. In Why We Fight, Mike Martin, a soldier and scholar, goes beyond these five tenets to look at the root cause of violence in societies. He attempts to describe connections between individuals and their social behaviour.

• Kishore Kumar Khera |
• October-December 2019 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 the issue so very intriguing. Further, ethical dilemmas are often laden with inherent individual subjectivities, making it difficult to arrive at a singularly agreeable distinction between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Why do individuals transgress? Why do individuals give and take bribes? Why is it so difficult to report a course mate?

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

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 increased, choice has decreased and much of the equipment supplied to the United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces is now sourced wholly or partially from foreign suppliers—leaving the nation dangerously exposed to potential interferences in the supply (and replacement) of weaponry and munitions for political reasons.

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

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 and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). In the study of India–Pakistan relations, most scholars and analysts tend to overlook GB, which explains the sparse literature on and information about the region.

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

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 (TTP) is one such movement that grew out of the resentment against the established religious parties’ failure to implement sharia, coupled with Pakistan’s decision to join the war on terror which fuelled religious anxiety that this war was aimed against Islam.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• October-December 2019 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

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 border alignment, and a war that represented its lowest point in their relations, the two countries remain suspicious of each other’s motives, actions and statements emanating from them and their possible implications.

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

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 illustrates the achievements in Chinese missile modernisation, which poses a threat to the US deterrence capacity. On other hand, it exposes the limitations in its deployment patterns.

• M.S. Prathibha |
• October-December 2019 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

With the melting of snow and improvement in weather conditions, the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) that separates India and Pakistan has traditionally been a ‘hot’ place in summers, with multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan culminating in frequent artillery duels. Over time, and well before the era of instant news, this perception of the LoC had embedded itself in the collective consciousness of the Indian public.

• Alok Deb |
• July-September 2019 |
• Journal of Defence Studies

Kargil was an early milestone in India’s journey towards becoming a nuclear weapons power. Two decades later, India has shed the image of a reluctant nuclear power and morphed into being a responsible one. The credit for this achievement can be traced to the wisdom that is embedded in India’s nuclear doctrine that has guided the development, growth and deployment of its nuclear wherewithal. The hallmarks of the doctrine like Civilian control, No First Use, and Credible Minimum Deterrence have endured despite internal and external pressures.

• Prakash Menon |
• July-September 2019 |
• Journal of Defence Studies