Influence of Vedanta on Indian Strategic Culture While discussing the roots of strategic culture of any country, it is important to understand its core belief systems, enshrined in its spiritual, philosophical, political and military treatises that may have played a fundamental role in shaping its collective psyche and by extension, its patterns of perception and behaviour. Adil Rasheed | July-September 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
A Proposal for Biosecurity Framework in India Abstract Perpetual biological threats in India presented in different forms, and of various intensities call for a comprehensive biosecurity framework. Rapidly advancing scientific developments in synthetic biology have altered the… Continue reading A Proposal for Biosecurity Framework in India Mrinmayee Bhushan | July-December 2021 | CBW Magazine
Cultural Explanation of Statecraft: The Polities and Policies of Asoka and Akbar Constructivism argues that the behaviour of actors in international politics is shaped by factors like identity, norms, rules, etc. Though it has been well argued that these factors shape and sometimes regulate the behaviours of political actors, not much has been written about the formation of such norms and how the identity of a political actor becomes operational through them. Nazir Ahmad Mir | July-September 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
A Comparison of Kamandaka’s Nitisara and Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Statecraft, Diplomacy and Warfare Kamandaka’s Nitisara was composed after the classic and the only surviving root text of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Both the texts are important milestones in Indic heritage and tradition of political science. They share many fundamental and enduring similarities in concepts and vocabulary. There are also dissimilarities and some unique features such as Kamandaka’s strategy of Upeksha (neglect, diplomatic indifference) reused and revived during the Indian freedom struggle. P. K. Gautam | July-September 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
A ‘Regional’ Intervention in the Debate on India’s Strategic Culture: Maratha Statecraft in Agyapatra Existing scholarship on India’s strategic culture pronounces on it either based almost entirely on India’s post-independence strategic behaviour with some references to the pre-independence period or on select historical experiences and texts. For a large part of its history, however, the Indian sub-continent has been under ‘regional’ rulers, ranging from small to very large kingdoms. There are traditions that emanate from them that are as much part of the Indian strategic culture as the pan-Indian phenomena. Arpita Anant | July-September 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
Can we Become Wiser from the Havoc of COVID-19? Abstract: COVID-19 sent the whole world and economy into a tailspin. This article first explores the brief history of use of biological weapons. Furthermore, it encapsulates the debates surrounding the… Continue reading Can we Become Wiser from the Havoc of COVID-19? D. Padma Kumar Pillay | July-December 2021 | CBW Magazine
Novichok and Murkier case of Navalny poisoning: Is Russia Flouting Chemical Weapon Convention obligations? Abstract: Novichok nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War emerged as a lethal tool due to their use in attempted assassinations recently. Two such attempts involving… Continue reading Novichok and Murkier case of Navalny poisoning: Is Russia Flouting Chemical Weapon Convention obligations? Animesh Roul | July-December 2021 | CBW Magazine
Interrogating ‘Hyphenated Cultures’: India’s Strategic Culture and its Intelligence Culture In the late 1950s, the concept of 'political culture' was first developed. Towards the end of the Cold War, scholars in International Relations (IR) theory and security studies developed the concept of 'strategic culture'. Over a period, state bureaucracies were thematised by scholars of comparative politics leading to the concept of 'bureaucratic culture'. Lastly, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, a comparative turn in intelligence studies began to emerge with the concept of (national) 'intelligence culture'. Michael Liebig | July-September 2021 | Journal of Defence Studies
WTO TRIPS Waiver and COVID-19 Vaccine Equity The vaccine inequity is not only morally indefensible but clinically counter-productive. Allowing most of the world’s population to go unvaccinated will only spawn new virus mutations. Preventing this humanitarian catastrophe requires removing barriers – such as TRIPS – to vaccine production and its equitable distribution. Rajeesh Kumar | July 12, 2021 | Issue Brief
Israeli Foreign Minister’s Visit to UAE: Taking Abraham Accords Forward Israel and UAE have laid a strong foundation for their relationship by signing the Abraham Accords. While both are prioritising economic cooperation and exploring opportunities in other key sectors, how they build convergences over complex regional issues remains to be seen. Prasanta Kumar Pradhan | July 12, 2021 | IDSA Comments