Strategic Thinking

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  • How Dharma Shapes Strategic Thought On War in the Mahabharata

    The Occasional Paper employs the dharmic viewpoint of the Mahabharata to derive the fundamental elements of ancient Indian strategic thought. It evaluates the role of dharma as it shapes war as a defining element of strategic thought.

    Vineet Ravindran asked: Why does the 'Western narrative' dominate the global information/media landscape? What tools does it employ and how does it impact global events? How can the non-Western world balance it?

    Uttam Kumar Sinha replies: In the last three decades, increasing globalisation, development of capitalism, and deregulation policies have radically transformed the mass media, which includes international news broadcasts, television, film, and music. What used to be relatively national in scope has now become a competitive catchment of global audiences.

    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'.

    July-September 2021

    What Should Define Integration of Armed Forces?

    Unless the armed forces and the security establishment take a singular approach to warfighting, which includes evolving a singular concept of warfighting, identifying threats and challenges, and medium and long-term capability development goals, differences that make headlines will continue to recur time and again.

    July 12, 2021

    Alana Houkamau asked: How did airpower disrupt the dichotomy between geopolitics as sea-power (Mahan) versus geopolitics as land-power (Mackinder), and do either of these theories holds any relevance today?

    Kishore Kumar Khera replies: Physically, there are just three ways to connect - land, water and air. And these three mediums are also used to perceive and project power. Mahan and Mackinder based their theories on the centrality of seas and landmass respectively. And now airpower has come into play in a major way.

    Piyush Garodia asked: What is the function of strategic partnerships? Why has India signed so many of them and even with a long-time adversary like China?

    Ashok Behuria replies: In international politics today, the term ‘strategic partnership’ is being regarded as an alternative to the old ‘alliance’ system, which characterised interstate politics during the Cold War.

    Nemam Natarajan Pasupathy asked: What role do the chiefs of Indian armed forces have in the strategic decision-making process of the government?

    Alok Deb replies: The three Service Chiefs are invitees on various select committees constituted at the highest levels of government, which strategise on national security matters.

    India’s Strategic Connect with the World

    The various connectivity projects put forward by India show its involvement as an investor in capacity-building efforts in the recipient countries across sectors of their particular needs and choices, not as an overarching and imposing economic power.

    October 23, 2017

    Exploring the Roots of India's Strategic Culture

    Event: 
    Conference
    October 05, 2017

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