Strategic Thinking

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    • Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary (Volume II)

    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2016

    This book is the second in a series of three volumes on “Kautilya and His Vocabulary” as a part of the “Indigenous Historical Knowledge” project undertaken by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. These volumes aim at initiating the study, internalisation, spread and consolidation of Kautilya's Arthashastra in the strategic domain. The four focus themes in the three volumes are foreign policy, intelligence, war and internal security as they relate to contemporary times.

    • ISBN 978-81-8274-866-8,
    • Price: ₹. 695.00
    • E-copy available
    P. K. Gautam, Saurabh Mishra and Arvind Gupta
    2016

    National Security Decision Making: Overhaul Needed

    National Security Decision Making: Overhaul Needed

    A sub-committee of the CCS must devote time and effort to make substantive recommendations to improve the structures for higher defence management, defence research and development, self-reliance in defence production and the improvement of civil-military relations.

    Gurmeet Kanwal
    August 26, 2014

    Krishnadev asked: Is there an Indian school of strategic thought?

    S. Kalyanaraman replies: No, there is no Indian school of strategic thought. In fact, there is no country-specific or culture-specific strategic thought, notwithstanding contrived efforts to differentiate between ‘Western’ and ‘Non-Western’ discourses in International Relations.

    Kenneth Waltz R.I.P. (1924-2013)

    Kenneth Waltz hailed as the ‘King of thought’ was a towering thinker in the field of IR. His two most important works, Man, The State, and War (1959) and Theory of International Politics (1979), provided a framework within which emerged the principal debate in IR.

    Rajesh Rajagopalan
    May 15, 2013

    Contribution of Brijesh Mishra in Strategic Affairs and Security Reforms

    The late Sri Brijesh Mishra's perceptive mind and pragmatism in the formulation of foreign and security policies earned him the title of ‘Chanakya of the modern period’. During his long career as a diplomat, he held many important positions and retired from the Indian Foreign Services (IFS) as India's permanent representative in the United Nations (UN).

    S.D. Pradhan
    March 2013

    Cinema and Strategic Culture

    As India celebrates a century of its cinematic culture, there is a need to elevate its quality and role to complement India’s power profile and socio-cultural aspirations.

    A. Vinod Kumar
    February 12, 2013

    Corruption in Administration: Evaluating the Kautilyan Antecedents

    The significance of Arthasastra for the issue of corruption in contemporary times lies in Kautilya’s realisation that corruption in government is inevitable but can be combated through a set of strict measures

    Tarun Kumar
    October 12, 2012

    The Problem of Grand Strategy

    This paper interrogates the concept of grand strategy. Its proponents argue that the absence of a publicly articulated and coherent grand strategy leads to incoherence in practice: armed forces acquire technologies without a strategy, government departments pursue their specific interests without reference to overarching national goals, and diplomats have a hard time explaining India’s behaviour to foreign interlocutors.

    V. Krishnappa
    July 2012

    What does the discovery of Higgs boson mean?

    With the discovery of the Higgs boson, the missing link in the Standard Model of physics has been found and the Standard Model stands further strengthened.

    Arvind Gupta
    July 09, 2012

    Raviteja asked: What is strategic depth? What does it mean? If possible, please give some examples.

    Anit Mukherjee replies: The concept of Strategic Depth emerges from the realm of military operations and it usually denotes the distance between enemy forces and the main centres of gravity of a country. These centres could be military frontlines, bases, or industrial and commercial hubs. For a military professional, the greater the distance that has to be traversed by enemy forces to reach these bases, the better are the chances of a successful defensive operation. This is primarily because it gives the defender more time and space to organise the defence and stretches the enemy’s logistical chain.

    The best examples emerge from the French and German invasions of Russia/Soviet Union. Russian strategy traded space for time and even followed a scorched earth policy. They also relocated key industries to the hinterland. In short, Russia had the luxury of space and had greater strategic depth. In more contemporary times, some in Pakistan have justified meddling in Afghanistan so that they can attain ‘strategic depth’ in case of a war with India. This, however, logically means that the Pakistani military will desert its people and the country and operate out of Afghanistan to fight India. Rightfully so then this idea has been ridiculed by many Pakistani analysts.

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