The points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy.
Indian foreign policy, There is some evidence within the argument that, barring perhaps the us , realism has had its over-riding influence on what might be described because the ‘foreign policy establishment’ or the ‘strategic community’ of India. Indian foreign policy, Echelons of a minimum of six identifiable groups viz., the military, diplomatic service , bureaucracy including the Foreign Service , political class, policy experts from the academia and therefore the media, and therefore the community of scientists and technologists of the so called policy establishment, it are often said, help shape India’s thinking on policy matters. Indian foreign policy, The ‘strategic community’ is intertwined closely and shares state power quite others; for instance , the business community—although the influence of the business is on the increase within the wake of the economic liberalisation and is clear within the formation of varied government-business consultative mechanisms.(MEG 011 American Novel Question Paper)
Indian foreign policy, Also, sectors within the middle echelons of the afore-mentioned six identifiable groups while don't influences they, at best, legitimise policy at the favored level. this could not be surprising. Indian foreign policy, For, policy and diplomacy invariably remain the handiwork of the elite. India’s ‘strategic community’ operates, more or less, within the parameters of political realism or just realism. Indian foreign policy, The ‘strategic community’ perceives itself as being pragmatic, responsible and experienced, and is oriented to practical problem-solving. The ‘strategic community’ doesn't function in a billboard hoc fashion nor are its responses unplanned or “knee-jerk” responses. To the contrary, the ‘strategic community’ is aware of the elemental goals and means at its disposal for the realisation of policy objectives. Indian foreign policy, Political realism entails the view of power because the basis of inter-state relations, which are seen normally in conflictual modes, with each state seeking to pursue egoistically its own interests. Indian foreign policy, Neo-realism recognises the primacy of politics but concedes that international order supported the convergence of interests among actors, and not conflict alone, is that the basis of diplomacy .
With the above in sight , at least, three goals
are often identified with paramount importance attached to the goal of external
national security and internal national unity. the 2 other goals are leadership
a minimum of within the region and at a bigger Third World level; and an area
within the comity of nation-states appropriate to India’s size, stature and
capabilities. Indian foreign policy, Two assumptions underlie the approach:
one, security of Indian state is paramount and is, best subsumed, as ‘national
interest’. Indian foreign policy, All other elements and goals are subordinate
to the present basic national interest. it's the leitmotif or the guiding
factor of all political and strategic thinking and planning. it's to be noted
that the term security is defined essentially in political-military terms. the
idea is that a physically and militarily secure nation-state may be a Sine qua
non of the well-being and unity of the society. Indian foreign policy, Underlying
the supremacy of national security goal is additionally the assumption and
therefore the experience of colonialism and foreign domination. Indian foreign
policy, Historically, as and when India had a weak or a fissiparous state
structure, the country had been susceptible to foreign domination and rule.
International Relations (IR) scholarship in India is notable for its quest to question and challenge the dominance of Western theories. Indian foreign policy, This has led to attempts to draw the eye towards the pitfalls of counting on Western approaches to know IR. Indian foreign policy, This, in fact, has been a recurrent theme within the work of the many scholars. for instance , with specific regard to the Indian diplomat-turned-scholar, Jayantanuja Bandopadhyaya’s thinking on IR, Ian Hall notes that for him, “Anglo-American IR was also deeply flawed in thus far because it was the ‘conscious or subconscious rationalization of the role played by the West, particularly the USA’ within the times . (UGC NET Political Science Syllabus ) Indian foreign policy, Its preoccupation with the means by which states acquire and use power – especially military power – reflected the very fact that IR was really just a ‘functional ideology for the perpetuation of the dominance of the North over the South.
Indian foreign policy, While some view the dominance of the West (understood essentially as Anglo-American) within the discipline as problematic for arriving at a nuanced and rich understanding of the processes underpinning diplomacy , others regard IR as being an intrinsically Anglo-American discipline in itself. In his much cited article, “An American Social Science: diplomacy ,” (MPS 001 Question No.1 Answer ) Stanley Hoffman provides an account on why modern IR has been so closely related to the US. Indian foreign policy, He points to a number of reasons – from the role of people like Hans J. Morgenthau, to the will of the US to maneuver past its isolationist strand in its policy , to the role of foundations, and therefore the linkage between academia and policymaking that allowed the US to steal a march over others when it came to providing IR its basic contours.
For those troubled by the
sway that Anglo-American thinking has had on IR in reference to India, the
“realist” approach has been viewed as being especially problematic. Indian
foreign policy, It's been observed that realism, with its specialise in the
state, has led to the “…disciplinary inclination to hunt patronage from the
dominant actor within the discipline.”
Indian foreign policy, While
some argue that the top of the conflict led to a profound setback to realism’s
standing within the discipline, others argue the other . it's been noted that
the top of the conflict “…did not…result in an abdication of realism’s
pre-eminent status within the field” which realism “still finds variety of
adherents and is accepted particularly in policy circles as persuasive in evaluating
outcomes.” Indian foreign policy, While Morgenthau continues to tell IR
thinking, “…the more dominant contemporary voice within this lineage, [is] that
of Kenneth Waltz.”(
In fact, it's believed that
realism has been so pronounced in shaping scholarship within the context of
India and also South Asia, that some argue that the region has been viewed
largely through the concepts employed by neorealists. Indian foreign policy, This
has led to the eclipsing of the “nuances of the region in IR scholarship.”
Indian foreign policy, Further,
it's been observed that “the theoretical poverty of IR within the region isn't
only thanks to the geopolitical conditioning of the discipline, Indian foreign
policy, but also overlapping surrender to the predominant methodological
(precisely epistemological) surrender to (neo)realism [emphasis original],
positivism – and to top it all scientism.”
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