Ancient Indian political thought as given in the niti (moral law) lays down that matsya nyaya (big fish swallowing the smaller fish), which is a law of nature, must be eradicated. However, in spite of best intentions it continues to prevail in internal and international politics. Society is bound together by dharma (justice), which is the great protecting principle, and economic prosperity, moral welfare and cultural advancements are the functions of justice.
It needs to be noted that discipline and efficiency is the first demand in disaster response and relief tasks, which are often dangerous missions and quite naturally the military brings in order in post-disaster operations.
This work establishes the need for relevance of Kautilya's Arthasastra to contemporary security studies. The paper provides an overview and an update of various academic and scholarly controversies on its age and authorship, and also on the misperceptions which abound on Kautilya himself.
The four upayas are not well studied by scholars and are often used in a casual manner, particularly misquoting Kautilya. It is important to locate the text of traditional indigenous knowledge in their correct context.
The current decline in US emissions should not make us forget about climate change; a renewed push is necessary to discuss actions and policies that mitigate the complex issue of climate change.
Both think tanks and universities need to attempt to study traditional knowledge (much of which lies in religious text of many traditions). Rich methodological traditions exist in ancient literature and they need wider study.
Military capabilities matter. Countries and regions where wars have taken place have one important attribute- battle and operational experience. The monograph examines 21st century wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Georgia and Libya. New trend of cyber war is also included. Key highlights have been extracted and distilled into lessons to be learnt.
The community of scholars needs to study Kautilya's Arthasastra and apply his concepts to political theory and other fields of enquiry, such as intelligence, internal security, war, foreign policy, sociology, political psychology, law, accounting and management. In the past, scholars had to memorise the sutras. This may not be possible now given the declining knowledge of Sanskrit. However, this is no longer a hindrance. The first ever English translation of the text was carried out by Shamasastry, but there are now other English translations of the Arthasastra such as that by R.P.
Role of the Indian Military in Disasters
It needs to be noted that discipline and efficiency is the first demand in disaster response and relief tasks, which are often dangerous missions and quite naturally the military brings in order in post-disaster operations.