Strategy in Indian Policy Studies

Strategy in Indian Policy Studies

                                                                     --- By Dr Shreya Upadhyay*

As we move from an American to an Asian century, India is being nudged to redefine its place in the global world order. It has all the ingredients to play a major role in the coming decades, be it geographical size, rapid economic growth, burgeoning manpower, or soft power like secular democracy and culture. Yet, many lament that India still lacks a “strategic culture” required to ace the world screen. 

A 1992 Rand Corporation study commissioned by the Pentagon is a case in point. The paper authored by George Tanham focused on how India’s historical, geographical, and cultural factors was based on spiritualism and timelessness and was void of a strategic thought. Similar arguments have been used to point out the rise of China which is given while censuring India for being a power that cannot quite get its act together. 

A 2006 study conducted by Department of Defence by Rodney Jones provides a diametrically opposite view, however. The paper states ideas of Kautilya on war and peace, governance, public administration, military affairs, intelligence and real politic in interstate balance of power. The paper reflected the broader thought that Kautilyan realism was not only present among the policy and strategy elites of the modern India but was subconsciously present in the thoughts of normal citizenry. 

There are proponents of both the ideas. Critics believe that on national security issues, there is still no consensus on how to deal with challenges from our neighbouring countries. There is little agreement on dealing with Naxalism and insurgency within the country. Views on Kashmir and North East are not consistent and fluctuate along party lines. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks brought to fore as to how India should have responded to the attacks. Others gloat over India’s surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016 or the unfolding of Doklam crisis insisting that India finally has a strategic culture in place. However, these incidents are still taken in isolation and discussed on a case-to-case basis rather than coordination. 

It therefore becomes imperative to delve on the first step to achieve coordination in Indian strategic environment. What is the role of academic thought in this regard? 

What is Strategic Culture? 

‘Strategic’ refers to statecraft, largely dealing with military and foreign policy. ‘Culture’ on the other hand is trickier to explain. It is inherently pluralist in character. Different peoples have different languages, ethnicity, ecology, traditions and customs. This makes for diverse cultures in the world. 

On these lines, ‘strategic culture’ of different peoples or different nation-states become different because thinking in politics, foreign policy and security affairs are not uniform across the world. Various factors determine the formation of national culture. For example, America’s strategic culture is based on American exceptionalism, manifest destiny, city on a hill, etc. Russian strategic culture is influenced by invasions by the Mongols, Poland-Lithuania, Sweden, France and Germany, communism and cold war. Indian strategic culture will have historical experiences from invasions from Persians, Mongols, Muslim Arabs, British colonialism, Gandhian world view. 

To quote the modern strategic studies pundit Colin Gray, strategic studies refers to the notion that "a security community is likely to think and behave in ways that are influenced by what it has taught itself about itself and its relevant contexts. And that education, to repeat, rests primarily upon the interpretation of history and history’s geography.” 

Importance of Strategic Studies 

As an academic subject, strategic studies is interdisciplinary in character and draws heavily from politics, economics, sociology, psychology, geography, etc. It is also action oriented and therefore, involves military, intelligence, force, technology among other things. Cold War was the golden period of strategic studies when it was introduced as a prominent academic sub discipline of international relations. It, however, went into hiding during the 1970s détente period and re-emerged in the post-cold war period as new problems of ethnicity, nationalism, insurgency and climate change emerged. 

In India most of the courses in social sciences introduce the concept of nation, sovereignty, and statehood. However, these are taught in the realm of political science and are largely domestic in character. International Relations is introduced mostly at the graduate level and is still not as popular. Strategic and Security Studies reach is even rarer. In contrast, countries like the US, UK and Australia have full-fledged departments providing for military and national security studies. This helps in nurturing individuals to participate on issues related to geo-politics, military geography, defence economics, conflict management and resolution thus contributing towards developing of a strategic culture. 

For a nation to create synchronisation in its national security matters, it is important that an informed debate is generated so as to build consensus regarding military and non- military dimensions of security. While strategic studies should focus on securing security, the means adopted must preserve the freedom and rights of people enshrined in the constitution. This when imparted through academic thought will ensure that future leaders deal with crisis situations with enough preparation and a deep understanding of the history rather than getting embroiled in individual instances. 

*Dr Shreya Upadhyay is Programme Manager of Graduate Certificate of Strategic Studies, at the Takshashila Institution, Bangalore. She can be reached at Shreya@takshashila.org.in