Browsing by Subject "Strategic Culture"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Inter-state Relations in Kautilya’s Arthashastra
(University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Kumar, Rajeev
The western world has been plagued with a wilful misconception that ancient India was uninformed or rather oblivious of elements such as statecraft, strategy, or administration. They intended to colour India’s past as one having no historical sense even though the ancient Indian treatises and epics spoke volumes about vast kingdoms, their war strategies and administrative skills and about major battles that were fought. Such vast treasures on ancient skills in strategizing warfare and defining inter-state relations could not have been possible without a fine sense of policy-making and application. They, in fact, further the very idea of ancient Indian wisdom in statecraft and related aspects. Some 2300 years ago, Kautilya described the principles of statecraft, diplomacy and interstate relations. He described the principles of inter-state relations as Mandala theory. The strategic thinking in Kautilyan grand strategic design becomes evident through the six measures of foreign policy, also known as Shadagunya theory, which was closely related to the strength and weakness of the state. The present study will make an effort to interpret the Kautilyan ideas and concepts with respect to inter-state relations and will try to explore Kautilya’s significance and relevance in the present Indian and global context.
Open Access
Masculinized Strategic Studies: It’s Impact on the Daily Discourse of Security Policies
(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Shayesta Nishat Ahmed
The paper deliberates on addressing the question as to how the masculine streak in the security structure appears as “normal” and why does it get normalized in the security structure. It would look into how the shortcomings of the conventional perceptions and decision-making have impacted the national security concerns of the state as it is generally taken for granted that the national security discourses are built along the lines of masculinist high politics. The military bend of International Relations working in close quarters with disciplines like Security Studies, comes up with a subdued response to the numerous hurdles in the security of humans and the environment. The paper is divided into four parts; the first part attempts at looking into the background and defining the concept of “masculinity”; masculinity in international security studies and at the different variants of masculinity and the different layers of masculinist traditions that are spread across the spectrum. In the second part, the paper looks at the absorption of qualitative masculinist attributes that permeate the discipline of international security studies. In the third part, the paper examines the military bend of masculinity in security studies. The fourth and the final part of the paper talks about how the masculinist trend plays a role in promoting the gendered biases against both the male and female victims in the light of the eschewed gendered security policies.