Journal of Defence Studies

Debating Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

Technology and the armed forces have a symbiotic relationship. Many technologies which are presently used in day-to-day life, like the Internet or navigation systems (global positioning system [GPS]), actually have...

Ajey Lele |
January-March 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

The Strategy Trap: India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow

Ever since India and Pakistan emerged as declared nuclear weapon states in 1998, national security ideation in both countries has factored in the nuclear dimension in significantly different ways. While...

India in Nuclear Asia: Evolution of Regional Forces, Perceptions and Policies

In India in Nuclear Asia, authors Yogesh Joshi and Frank O’Donnell do a rigorous job of unpacking the layers that have constituted India’s nuclear journey, especially since going overtly nuclear...

Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950–1980

Warriors, with courage and integrity as their distinguishing traits, have been always respected. Skilful warriors, such as military aviators, have created a special place for themselves in the society. In...

Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos

Article 108 of United Nations (UN) Charter states that the Charter can be amended if it is adopted by two-third members of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of...

Lakshmi Priya |
January-March 2019 |
Journal of Defence Studies

How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century, by Shyam Saran

One of the first lessons a student of international politics is introduced to is that foreign policy is a compendium of continuity and change, of static and dynamic co-existence, mired...

Shrabana Barua |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Causes for Failure and Continuing Relevance

Decades after the deployment of the first peacekeeping operation (PKO)—United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)—in 1948, the United Nations (UN) cannot boast of too many successes. The continued relevance of...

A.K. Bardalai |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

The Soul of Armies: Counterinsurgency Doctrine and Military Culture in the US and UK, by Austin Long

This book is a major contribution towards the field of military culture, one which has had shortage of literature traditionally. While the book primarily dwells on the counter-insurgency doctrine and...

Vivek Mishra |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan, by T.C.A. Raghavan

‘The People Next Door’ is the name of a 1968 television (TV) series made into a 1970 Hollywood movie, a 1996 TV film, a 2008 novel, again a 2016 TV...

Ghanshyam Katoch |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Emerging Contours of Maritime Security Architecture under the Belt and Road Initiative

The revival of the centuries-old ‘Silk Road at Sea’ into a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is an integral part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The...

Abhay Kumar Singh |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Defending Japan: Reviewing the 2018 White Paper

Three key developments unfolded in Japan in August 2018: the Ministry of Defence (MOD) released its annual Defence White Paper; requested a 2.1 per cent increase in the 2019 budget;...

Titli Basu |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces: A Decade after Reorganisation

Japan banks heavily on her security alliance with the United States (US) to ensure availability of requisite military capability in the region. China’s economic and military capabilities have grown in...

Approach to Battle: Training the Indian Army during the Second World War, by Alan Jeffreys

From entering the portals of a military academy till retirement, an officer remains deeply involved with training. From the initial days as a subaltern to, later on, assuming the responsibilities...

Alok Deb |
October-December 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

The Great Game in Afghanistan: Rajiv Gandhi, General Zia, and the Unending War, by Kallol Bhattacherjee

A journalist by profession, Kallol Bhattacherjee has written extensively on South Asian affairs and on conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. In writing The Great Game in Afghanistan,...

N. Bahri |
July-September 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

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...

Mandip Singh |
July-September 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

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...

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...

Vignesh Ram |
July-September 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

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...

Kajari Kamal |
July-September 2018 |
Journal of Defence Studies

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...

Emerging India-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

India and Indonesia recently upgraded bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a move that comes on the eve of 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This...