Journal of Defence Studies

UNIFIL: The Many Challenges of Successful Peacekeeping

Nations from the developed world have rarely participated in complex and difficult UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) while those from the developing world have rich peacekeeping experience. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is a rare exception among peacekeeping missions as it includes peacekeepers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), along with Western military involvement. NATO members’ involvement in UNIFIL resulted in unusual structures and operational philosophy, and adjusting and adapting to this was difficult for non-Western participants.

The US Pivot and Indian Foreign Policy: Asia’s Evolving Balance of Power, by Harsh V. Pant and Yogesh Joshi

The US Pivot and Indian Foreign Policy is based on the premise of the ascendance of Chinese power and relative decline of the United States (US) on the world stage causing transition of power in international politics. Considering China’s assertive behaviour, this power transition is unlikely to be peaceful inducing uncertainty in the system. By using the term ‘balance of power’ in the title itself, the authors seem to have suggested an emerging bipolar world order with the US and China being the two poles in the near future.

The Chinese Maritime Militia: A Perfect Swarm?

The South China Sea is a zone of contention between China and other nations in the region. The US Navy has decreased the number of ships available to counter Chinese encroachments here and this power vacuum may be exploited by the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM). The militia is comprised of fishing vessels that are used to augment the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and possesses sophisticated communication and GPS technology.

India in Japan’s Geo-strategic Outlook

Japan’s long-standing alliance with the US is the key feature of its defence and security policy. However, China’s rise and impact on shaping the regional security architecture, and the vigour of US commitment in the backdrop of a G2 formulation, is making Japan diversify her options. Thus, India now features in the Japanese idea of Asia while it struggles to cope with the fluidity of the regional security landscape. This article critically analyses the increasing space accorded to India and the variables behind Japan’s courtship of it.

Revisiting Nuclear India: Strategic Culture and (In) Security Imaginary, by Runa Das

Following a critical social constructivist approach, Runa Das affirms in Revisiting Nuclear India that India’s nuclear decisions are a product of the state’s strategic culture, which is generated by its ‘security community’ not only as a response to ‘real politics’ but also are articulated and re-interpreted within an ‘political-ideological-cultural space’ carved out by the discursive practices of the security community. For Das, strategic cultures are not culturally-conditioned or historically determined but socially constructed.

Countering the Threat of Radicalisation: Theories, Programmes and Challenges

In recent years, rising instances of home-grown terrorism, lone-wolf operations and growing polarisation within societies have upstaged the global military struggle against major transnational terrorist organisations. As the dissemination of radical ideas and related violence increases, over 40 governments around the world have decided to develop their own counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation programmes, in keeping with their socio-political and cultural particularities.

Equilibrium in Higher Defence Organisation and the Need for Restructuring

The article deals with the issue of the necessity of identifying and maintaining equilibrium between the two key constituents of the higher defence organisation (HDO) of the country, namely, the civil bureaucrats and the service officers. In India, the military and the bureaucracy share a very delicate relationship. Though the protocol issues between the various appointments have been defined by the government, there is a requirement of greater clarity in the working relationship between them.

Revisiting the 1965 War

The 1965 war was an unexpected one, forced on India by Pakistan. Yet, India rose as one to face the threat to her safety and integrity, and defeated the designs of Pakistan to wrest Kashmir. Fought mainly on our western border, the geopolitical ramifications of the war attracted international attention and reactions of the major world powers, mainly for ending the war. While the actual fighting stopped on 23 September1965 (there were a few actions after it also), the final curtain was drawn in January 1966 at Tashkent.

War and State-Building in Afghanistan: Historical and Modern Perspectives, edited by Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy

War and State-Building in Afghanistan deals with one of South Asia’s most turbulent states, Afghanistan, and its socio-political and military conditions. This book also traces the processes that have shaped the geopolitics of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been occupied by the Mughals, British, Soviets, Americans and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The book looks at their efforts at counter-insurgency (COIN) operations in the last five centuries ranging from 1520 to 2012.

1962: The War That Wasn’t, by Kunal Verma

The title of the book is self-explanatory. And the tone and tenor thereof is an implied challenge to the conventional wisdom, and thesis, propounded in India’s China War, written by British scribe Neville Maxwell in the 1970s. According to Verma, in 1949, ‘China was not a player as far as India’s national security was concerned.’ None, except Sardar Patel, could read, or anticipate, China and its plan of action. Hence, the 1962 India–China conflict is ‘least understood’. Exactly a month before his death, however, Patel wrote a warning letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru.