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

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

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. Read More

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. Read More
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