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

Publication

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Battle for the Soul of Islam: Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century James M. Dorsey, Singapore, Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, 203 pp., EUR 12.99 (eBook), ISBN 978-981-97-2807-7

Following the 9/11 attacks, the violent actions of extremist groups like the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS) brought global attention to Islam, particularly their violent interpretations. This ignited a discussion within the Islamic world to define Islam in the 21st century. In The Battle for the Soul of Islam: Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century, journalist James M. Dorsey explores this ongoing ideological struggle. He highlights how Muslim nations compete to assert their versions of Islam to claim leadership in the Muslim world. This dynamic battle was complicated by the geopolitics of the Middle East and its economic resources, while being the cradle of the Abrahamic religions. Dorsey contrasts the self-serving agendas of autocratic Gulf monarchies with the more inclusive and reformist Islamic approach, championed by Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which advocates for a pluralistic interpretation of Islam.

Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders

We can note the growing interest in researching so-called encounters in England and other countries of the Global West. In the academic milieu, such studies appear frequently and en masse. Parallely, there is large-scale interest in the so-called rethinking history studies, created to expand horizons and refute and modify the postulates that have grown over the centuries. In addition, research is actively developing within the methodologies of the Global History School, which is trying to extend the ‘Eurocentric’ and ‘West-centric’ understanding of the world.

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