Monograph - MP-IDSA

A Shield Against the Bomb : Ballistic Missile Defence in a Nuclear Environment

For every major military invention in human history, there has quite always been a countervailing technology. Nuclear weapons have, however, remained an exception. Ballistic missile defence (BMD) has, in recent years, emerged as a formidable means to defend against nuclear-armed delivery systems though yet to prove their total reliability. What does the advent of BMD mean for the nuclear revolution – will it make nuclear weapons obsolete or in turn lead to a new arms race among great powers?

The Nitisara by Kamandaka: Continuity and Change from Kautilya’s Arthashastra

This study compares Indian traditions of statecraft in Kamandaka’s Nitisara, or the Elements of Polity, with the earlier foundational root text of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. There are commonalities, dissimilarities and uniqueness in the texts. However, key values and concepts across time do not seem to have changed and remain relevant even today.

Best Practices in Financial Management: Accrual Accounting for Defence

Changes in public financial management across the globe have necessitated India to revisit its traditional methods of managing and depicting its public finances. One of the major changes envisaged is a quest to migrate gradually to accrual accounting from the traditional cash-based accounting.

The Road to 5G: Technology, Politics And Beyond

This monograph examines the key technologies behind 5G, the requirements of infrastructure and spectrum, and the emerging landscape with the rise of Chinese telecommunication equipment manufactures. It delves into China’s rise as a key technology provider in the telecommunications sector, and a prime contributor to standards development.

Erdogan’s Turkey: Politics, Populism and Democratisation Dilemmas

The nearly two decades of Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP; Justice and Development Party) rule has raised a number of questions on the advancement or reversal of democratisation in Turkey. Besides the partisan debate on increasing authoritarian behaviour of Erdogan, there have been limited attempts to comprehensively examine the way AKP has shaped the Turkish politics in the context of the democratisation debate.

Development and India’s Economic Multilateralism: Where from? … Where To?

The Financing for Development (FFD) process and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) process are some of the recent events in the realm of economic multilateralism in the United Nations (UN). India, on its part, has always engaged with the UN and global multilateral processes. This study seeks to focus on India’s diplomacy on FFD and SDGs in the context of its long history of engaging with global economic governance through the UN.

A Study of the Kural: Concepts and Themes

India has a live, longstanding, and multiple traditions of secular texts and treatise on statecraft, not only in Sanskrit but also in Dravidian traditions in Tamil. For a total picture of Indian civilization and culture there is need to explore texts other than just Sanskrit. In this category there is a powerful and compact text in Tamil from south India called the Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar, also known as the Kural.

Best Practices in Financial Management: Integrated Financial Advisor for Defence

The institution of Financial Advisor in any organization is a salient pillar of good governance and accountability. In a government organization, Integrated Finance serves as the sine qua non for most efficacious utilization of available funds. The Ministry of Defence in particular, with its prodigious and multifarious expenditure, stands to gain enormously if its resources are harnessed in the most productive manner possible.

Indian Defence Diplomacy: A Handbook

The discipline of defence diplomacy picked up salience as an important component of foreign policy with most major militaries by the end of the Cold War. Particularly, in the last three decades, it has become a vital instrument in the diplomatic tool-bag of most countries.

Central Asia: Key to Engaging China and Russia

In Central Asia, China and Russia are emphasizing upon raising levels of cooperation between themselves for mutual benefit over other competing players. In effect, they have split responsibilities in the region, with Russia focusing on security issues and China contributing mainly to economic development issues, particularly through investment in infrastructure.