After a hiatus of almost 24 years, India startled the international community by resuming nuclear testing in May 1998. Pakistan responded later the same month with five nuclear tests of its own. The belief that the nuclear tests in South Asia have not only altered the strategic environment in the region but also transformed New Delhi into a nuclear weapons power recurs constantly in Indian strategic and political analyses. This book will address these issues in the context of a broader understanding of India's strategic interests, its institutional structures, and its security goals. The author argues that the truth of the matter is much more complex than most Indian analysts believe and that despite demonstrating and ability to successfully undertake nuclear explosions, India still has some way to go before it can acquire the capabilties that would make it a consequential nuclear power.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
... A lucid account of the likely evolution of India's nuclear-weapons policy. -- The Economist, May 25, 2002
...a classic of its kind....If you are interested in India's nuclear choices, this is one of two indispensable intellectual companions. -- India Today, November 26, 2001
...not merely a tour d'horizon of the likely future... but a tour de force on nuclear proliferation. -- Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2001
...unlikely to be surpassed in the near future as the definitive account of the country's evolving nuclear strategy. -- Amitabh Mattoo, The Indian Express, November 2001
A must-read for South Asia watchers, this book deserves a wider audience. -- George Perkovich, Survival, Spring 2002
Buoyed by the reputation of RAND and rigorous research of American academia comes another book on India's emerging nuclear policy. -- Raja Menon, Outlook India, November 2001
India cognoscenti must read this book; everyone interested in post-Cold War approaches to nuclear deterrence should read it. -- George Perkovich, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2002
...a classic of its kind....If you are interested in India's nuclear choices, this is one of two indispensable intellectual companions. -- India Today, November 26, 2001
...not merely a tour d'horizon of the likely future... but a tour de force on nuclear proliferation. -- Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2001
...unlikely to be surpassed in the near future as the definitive account of the country's evolving nuclear strategy. -- Amitabh Mattoo, The Indian Express, November 2001
A must-read for South Asia watchers, this book deserves a wider audience. -- George Perkovich, Survival, Spring 2002
Buoyed by the reputation of RAND and rigorous research of American academia comes another book on India's emerging nuclear policy. -- Raja Menon, Outlook India, November 2001
India cognoscenti must read this book; everyone interested in post-Cold War approaches to nuclear deterrence should read it. -- George Perkovich, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2002
From the Publisher
The resumption of nuclear testing in South Asia in May 1998 cameas a surprise to many in the United States. In the aftermath of thesetests, India declared itself to be a "nuclear weapon state" and for-mallyannounced its intention to develop a nuclear deterrent. Theseevents have significant implications both for regional security andfor the future of the evolving international order. In particular, theyrequire that American policymakers and defense planners under-standthe motivations behind India's decisions as well as the natureof Indian thinking about nuclear weaponry and the character of theevolving Indian deterrent-especially insofar as these issues affectU.S. diplomatic initiatives, nonproliferation policy, and regionalstrategy.This book describes India's emerging nuclear posture in the con-textof a broader assessment of its strategic interests, institutionalstructures, and security goals. It seeks to explicate the prevailing atti-tudestoward nuclear weaponry among Indian security managers be-causesuch attitudes, more than anything else, will ultimately de-termineNew Delhi's future decisions with regard to its doctrine,capabilities, and force posture. Since the principal objective of thisbook is to prepare U.S. policymakers in particular and the Americanstrategic community in general for prospective developments inthese three issue areas, a critical understanding, reconstruction, andsynthesis of the "official mind" on key questions pertaining to nucle-arizationremain the most appropriate methodological device for as-sessingNew Delhi's strategic choices.Toward that end, the book draws deeply from the best of the vastnumber of Indian writings available on issues surrounding nuclearweaponry. In fact, all the data and information pertaining to theIndian nuclear program have been drawn from open sources, pri-marilyIndian and Western newspapers, books, and journal articles.The author also benefited greatly from extensive interviews with im-portantIndian political figures (both in the current government andin the opposition) as well as with high-ranking officials in the PrimeMinister's Office, the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence (in-cludingthe Defence Research and Development Organization), andsenior Indian military officers, both current and retired. This ex-clusivereliance on open-source and interview materials implies thatsome factual information appearing in this book may be imperfectbut does not fundamentally compromise either the principal analyti-calconclusions drawn or the policy implications for the UnitedStates. The writing of this book was substantially completed byOctober 2000.This study is part of an ongoing analysis of emerging strategictrends in Asia and their implications for the U.S. Air Force. This re-searchis conducted in the Strategy and Doctrine Program of ProjectAIR FORCE under the sponsorship of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Airand Space Operations, U.S. Air Force (AF/XO), and the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF/CC). This book should be of in-terestto the U.S. national security community, regional military andintelligence analysts, the nonproliferation establishment, and aca-demicsin general.PROJECT AIR FORCEProject AIR FORCE, a division of RAND, is the Air Force federallyfunded research and development center (FFRDC) for studies andanalyses. It provides the Air Force with independent analyses of pol-icyalternatives affecting the development, employment, combatreadiness, and support of current and future aerospace forces. Re-searchis performed in four programs: Aerospace Force Develop-ment;Manpower, Personnel, and Training; Resource Management;and Strategy and Doctrine.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal work.,
By
This review is from: India's Emerging Nuclear Posture: Between Recessed Deterrent and Ready Arsenal (Paperback)
.If you want to get a good grasp of India's nuclear force structure and policies then I suggest you read this book cover to cover. This is a scholarly work full of a lot of Information, arguments backed by solid reasoning and superb constructive criticism. The author himself is an authority on South Asian Security issues. He is also the advisor of Robert Blackwill(US Ambassador to India). The author puts himself in the shoes of an Indian and attempts to go an extra mile to explain the threats to India's National Security particularly from India's nuclear neighbors. The book is organized into 6 chapters and deals with the issue from various angles (Domestic politics, military, National Economic performance and Contemporary International trends in the field of Nuclear Arms control). Out of the 6 chapters Chapters 4 and 5 are of foremost importance. Towards a Force-in-Being(I) and (II). The book consists 19 figures and 11 maps. But the maps of India are not shown properly(particularly J&K, PoK and Aksai China). The discussion of India's SSN/SSBN program(ATV)(pp 573-581) is very interesting so is an analysis of Chinese threat & capabilities. It also brings up several significant issues that need to be addressed such as the Nuclear Doctrine. All in all this book is for you ! Happy Reading ! .
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal Book.,
By
This review is from: India's Emerging Nuclear Posture: Between Recessed Deterrent and Ready Arsenal (Paperback)
.This is a very interesting & scholarly work. The author himself is an authority on South Asian Security issues. He is also the advisor of Robert Blackwill(US Ambassador to India). The book is organized into six chapters and deals with the issue from various angles including but not limited to Military/National Security, Economic, political and contemporary International trends in Arms control/Non Proliferation. The author puts himself in the shoes of an Indian and attempts to go an extra mile to explain the threats to India's National Security particularly from India's nuclear neighbors. Chapters 4 & 5 are the most important ones. Towards a Force In Being I & II. In these chapters the author describes how India's nuclear force is taking shape. The discussion of Chinese capabilities and threats (pp 58-75) is interesting so is the coverage of India's SSN/SSBN program (ATV) pp 573-581. All in all this book is for you.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
After a hiatus of almost 24 years, India once again startled the world by resuming nuclear testing at a time when the international community had solemnly expressed a desire, through the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), to refrain from the field testing of nuclear explosives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
completed nuclear weapons, traditional nuclear posture, deterrence breakdown, global nuclear regime, future nuclear posture, simple fission weapons, nonproliferation order, creeping weaponization, evolving deterrent, retaliatory window, nuclear brandishing, nuclear delivery role, nuclear inadvertence, strategic decapitation, civilian security managers, nuclear reversal, ready nuclear arsenal, wartime hides, second strike potential, mutual assured vulnerability, countermilitary targeting, delegative system, dirty plutonium, robust nuclear arsenal, nuclear estate Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Delhi, United States, South Asia, Cold War, The Times of India, The Hindu, Draft Report, New York, National Security Advisory Board, Hindustan Times, Weapons of Peace, Soviet Union, India's Nuclear Bomb, Indian Express, Jasjit Singh, Santa Monica, Defence Minister, The Pioneer, N-Arms Race, Bharat Karnad, Jaswant Singh, Oxford University Press, Jane's Intelligence Review, Raja Mohan, Thermonuclear Deterrent New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
After a hiatus of almost 24 years, India once again startled the world by resuming nuclear testing at a time when the international community had solemnly expressed a desire, through the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), to refrain from the field testing of nuclear explosives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
completed nuclear weapons, traditional nuclear posture, deterrence breakdown, global nuclear regime, future nuclear posture, simple fission weapons, nonproliferation order, creeping weaponization, evolving deterrent, retaliatory window, nuclear brandishing, nuclear delivery role, nuclear inadvertence, strategic decapitation, civilian security managers, nuclear reversal, ready nuclear arsenal, wartime hides, second strike potential, mutual assured vulnerability, countermilitary targeting, delegative system, dirty plutonium, robust nuclear arsenal, nuclear estate Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Delhi, United States, South Asia, Cold War, The Times of India, The Hindu, Draft Report, New York, National Security Advisory Board, Hindustan Times, Weapons of Peace, Soviet Union, India's Nuclear Bomb, Indian Express, Jasjit Singh, Santa Monica, Defence Minister, The Pioneer, N-Arms Race, Bharat Karnad, Jaswant Singh, Oxford University Press, Jane's Intelligence Review, Raja Mohan, Thermonuclear Deterrent New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
8
books
cite this book:
See all 8 books citing this book
- India in the World Order: Searching for Major-Power Status (Contemporary South Asia) by Baldev Raj Nayar on page 221, and Back Matter
- Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Emergent Threats in an Evolving Security Environment by Alistair Millar in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Conflict Unending by Sumit Ganguly on page 110, and page 113
- Conflict Unending by Sumit Ganguly on page 110, and page 113
- India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation Updated Edition with a New Afterword by George Perkovich in Back Matter
See all 8 books citing this book
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