Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Kashmir Under 370: A Personal History by J&K’s Former Director General of Police

 Soon after acceding to India in October 1947, the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) became synonymous with what was to be known as ‘the Kashmir issue’, ‘the Kashmir conflict’, ‘the Kashmir problem’ or ‘the Kashmir dispute’. From India’s standpoint, Kashmir’s embroilment was mainly due to Pakistan’s invasion of the state, the geopolitically-motivated mess at the UN (when India registered its complaint on the Pakistani aggression) and the retention of territory by Pakistan it illegally occupied during the invasion. Within India and outside, the span of 78 years post Pakistan’s invasion has produced an ocean of literature on multiple issues concerning the former state. Comparatively, there are fewer books that have come out after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Obviously, the rescinding of the special status from Jammu & Kashmir is still fresh andmore importantly, the new reality is still to sink in completely. Read More

Strategic Currents: China and US Competition for Influence

 In the aftermath of the Cold War, the resurgence of Russia and the swift ascent of China have reignited an era of intense great power competition. The United States’ National Security Strategy 2017, which formally identified Russia and China as strategic competitors, marked a pivotal moment in the crystallization of this moment. The pursuit of technological supremacy is at the heart of the competition, with the US and China moving beyond bilateral disputes to exert global influence through alliance formation, setting technological standards, and competing for control in key regions like the Indo-Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and South Asia. Bernard F. W. Loo and James Char’s Strategic Currents: China and US Competition for Influence presents a timely and empirically grounded analysis of the US–China strategic rivalry, with a particular emphasis on Southeast Asia’s adaptive responses within an increasingly contested international order. Read More

Decision Making for Defence

 The aim of this article is to examine in comparison with some other modern parliamentary democracies, India’s decision making process and organizational structure in the overall realm of national security,* and to suggest where appropriate, how our system might be improved. This comparative study will encompass the relevant national security machinery in the US, France, Britain and India. Read More

Ayub’s Foreign Policy: From Alliance to Equidistanc

 The departure of President Ayub from the Pakistani scene after a decade of almost unchallenged supremacy provides us with an opportune moment for the evaluation of his contribution in the sphere of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Like every other sphere of Pakistani life, the foreign policy of Pakistan, as it has developed over the last decade, has been primarily the handiwork of President Ayub. Read More

The Antarctic Regime: Conflict and Change at the Frozen Frontier

 The management and utilization of a number of resources of the planet earth, over which no single nation has exclusive jurisdiction, have given rise to a number of knotty problems, usually termed as issues of ‘Global Commons“. A number of these issues have come to the fore in the global agenda in the 1970s.Footnote1 The creation of acceptable norms, procedures, rules, and institutional structures to manage these resources has proved to be legally complex and politically contentious. Read More

The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War | Nicholas Mulder, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2022, 416 pp., Price: US$ 24.00 (Paperback), ISBN: 9780300270488

 The Economic Weapon came at a time when Western policymakers were struggling to sanction one of the world’s largest economies, Russia, over the war in Ukraine. Nicholas Mulder, an Assistant Professor of modern European history at Cornell University, traces the evolution of the ‘economic weapon’ or what is now referred to as ‘economic sanction’, since its origin in 1914 until the foundation of the UN. In Prof. Mulder’s view, the role of the economic weapon was not given its proper space in World War history. Through the historical account, the author explores how the emergence of the economic weapon during wartime and especially during peacetime played a role in shaping the currents of various events. Read More

Thirty Years of ASEAN-India Relations: Towards Indo-Pacific | Prabir De (ed.), KW Publications, New Delhi, 2023, 608 pp., Price: Rs. 1,380 (Hardcover), ISBN: 978-93-94915-25-1

 From the Look East Policy (LEP) adopted by the Government of India in 1992 upto 2022, for 30 years, India’s partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has deepened in three areas: politics and security, economy, and socio-culture. The Modi Government’s stress on the Act East Policy (AEP) has bolstered the partnership, connecting value chains and achieving milestones like the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) launched in 2020, supported by e-commerce and digital connectivity. The ASEAN and India today present a combined population of over 1.8 billion, about a quarter of the world, and a total GDP of US$ 3.8 trillion. Read More

Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade | Elizabeth O’Brien Ingleson, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2024, 352 pp., Rs. 2,440.66 (Hardcover), ISBN 9780674251830

 The US-China trade relationship has dominated global discourses and impacted global trade. Elizabeth O’Brien Ingleson’s Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade, is an insightful take into the origins of this relationship. The book explores the pivotal events that shaped the US-China relationship, examining the dynamics of the 20th century and its evolution over the years. Ingleson delves into the historical transformation of global trade, highlighting the convergence of US and Chinese interests, especially during the 1970s—a period marked by significant changes in their bilateral relations. She provides insights from both political and business perspectives, including engagements by respective bureaucracies and US business leaders. The book comprehensively covers the development of trade relations, the political transformations that influenced them, and the growing Chinese influence in US markets. Read More

The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi | T.V. Paul, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, 2024, 263 pp.,$25 (Hardcover) ISBN: 9780197669990

 T.V. Paul’s The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi provides a rigorous and thought-provoking examination of India’s long-standing aspiration for global recognition. As a distinguished scholar of International Relations, Paul blends historical insights, theoretical frameworks, and empirical data to explore India’s evolving status aspirations, geopolitical constraints, and internal contradictions. Read More

Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements A. S. Bhasin, Penguin Random House, 2024, xiv–385 pp., ₹999.00 (hardcover), ISBN 9780143464983

 A. S. Bhasin’s Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements traces the evolution of India’s foreign policy from Nehruvian idealism to pragmatic realpolitik through five pivotal treaties, such as the India–China Agreement on Tibet, 1954; the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation, 1971; the Simla Agreement, 1972; India-Sri Lanka Accord, 1987; and the India-United States Civil Nuclear Agreement, 2008. Bhasin argues that these agreements reflect India’s strategic adaptation to geopolitical pressures, prioritizing national interest over ideological postures. Leveraging archival records and declassified documents, he reconstructs decision-making processes to highlight leadership, institutional dynamics, and external constraints. His methodology blends historical analysis with theoretical insights into statecraft, offering a nuanced critique of how domestic politics and global imperatives shaped India’s diplomatic identity. The book underscores treaties as milestones in India’s emergence as a pragmatic power in a contested world order. Read More
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