Journal of Defence Studies

Economic Sanctions as an Option to Fight Pakistan Sponsored Terrorism

Nuclearisation of the Indian subcontinent limits conventional military options available to India for punishing Pakistan’s employment of terrorism as a tool of state policy. While India has rightly balanced the...

Military Change: Survival of the Most Adaptable

The Greek philosopher Thucydides famously stated the proximate words: ‘The only constant [in life] is change’. (Even the most stable isotope, Tellerium-128, changes; it will decay to half its mass...

Heading East: Security, Trade and Environment between India and Southeast Asia, by Karen Stoll Farrell and Sumit Ganguly

Heading East, Security, Trade and Environment between India and Southeast Asia, co-edited by Sumit Ganguly and Karen Stoll Farrell, consisting of 11 chapters and one introductory note by the editors,...

The Ashgate Research Companion to Military Ethics, by James Turner Johnson and Eric D. Patterson

‘Ethics’, derived from the Latin word ethice, means a set of moral principles which guides actions towards ‘normative’ discipline.

Is India’s Nuclear Doctrine Credible?

Recent debates by former officials and analysts on India’s nuclear doctrine highlight certain credibility problems. Two inter-related pillars of the doctrine—the pledge of ‘No-First Use’ (NFU) and the assurance of...

Frontiers, Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies in South Asia, 1820-2013, by Kaushik Roy

Frontiers, Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies in South Asia is a well written and intelligently composed monograph by Kaushik Roy, a leading expert in South Asian military studies. It primarily deals with...

ALH Dhruv and the Indian Helicopter Industry: Unrealised Potential, Promises and Challenges

For more than half a century, independent India’s aircraft manufacturing has been dominated by, and entirely limited to, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The helicopter, in particular, was seen almost exclusively...

Perception Management in Asymmetric Warfare: Lessons for Democratic Practitioners from Ukraine (2014–16) and Gaza (2014)

The perception management component of information warfare has long been recognised as an important tool of warfare, appearing in military doctrines worldwide. The challenges and opportunities of its practice in...

Indian Defence Budget: Challenging Times

The past decade, and in particular the Twelfth Plan period, have been challenging times for the Indian defence budget. Strategic foresight demands that India’s military strength and capabilities relate to...

Data Theft: Implications for Economic and National Security

With the digitisation of services, such as in the case of governance and banking, or the electronic means of conducting commerce or trade, a large amount of data is generated,...

Military Robots: Mapping the Moral Landscape, by Jai Galliott

The ethical use of the military robots is a serious concern and in the last few years this debate has gained significant momentum on various human rights as well as...

Not War, Not Peace? Motivating Pakistan to Prevent Cross- Border Terrorism, by George Perkovich and Toby Dalton

The book—Not War, Not Peace? Motivating Pakistan to Prevent Cross-Border Terrorism—seems well-timed as it was released just few months before the surgical strikes conducted by Indian forces across the Line...

Diplomatic Dimensions of Maritime Challenges for India in the 21st Century, by Yogendra Kumar

The book records the story of India’s development into a modern maritime nation ready to take on the challenges of the twenty-first century. It also tells us how India has...

India’s Military Power: A General Reflects, by Lt Gen H.C. Dutta

In this book, the author—a distinguished officer of the Indian Army who retired as an Army Commander in 1983—has written about his experiences and important events in his 37 years...

Transfer of Defence Technology to India: Prevalence, Significance and Insights

Transfer of technology has been prevalent in numerous forms across the world, both in the civil as well as defence domains, and India is no exception. These transfers, primarily in...

Conceptualising Stress in the Armed Forces: A Public Health Perspective

In recent years, the frequent reports of suicide and fragging cases among armed forces personnel have prompted several questions about the negative effects of stressful life experiences on the well-being...

United Nations Peacekeeping Challenge: The Importance of the Integrated Approach, by Anna Powles et al.

The nature of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations has evolved considerably since 1948. Most contemporary conflict zones are full of violence, resulting in a large number of civilian casualties....

Open Skies: Transparency, Confidence Building, and the End of the Cold War, by Peter Jones

The Cold War period has been significant in international history as well as politics. The two power blocs were never at open war but much went on as part of...

The Rise and Future of ISIS

The article discusses the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and focuses on its future. It explores the major milestones in the phenomenal rise of ISIS, which...

Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, by Christopher Snedden

Since 1947, the protracted issue of Kashmir has predominantly underpinned the subcontinent’s security discourse having dictated the trajectory of unsettling ties between India and Pakistan. As old as India’s independence...