Suchergebnisse

Papers presented at an international seminar on Indian Culture in a Globalized World, organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in November 2010

Abstract
Debates on China's rise often limit the focus on the continuity and sustenance of the United States' hegemony and the liberal global order. This debate often ignores the primacy of the regional actors, who are generally reduced to 'pawns' in great power politics, acting without agency, interests, or values of their own. Instead, this article suggests that as China rises—like any other great power of the past—it will first aim to secure regional primacy through an array of policy instruments. To test this it examines three case-studies: 1) China–Pakistan relations in nuclear proliferation; 2) China–India relations with respect to border conflict; and 3) Sri Lanka–China relations for development infrastructure. It finds that China's rise has not been benign and instead Beijing has adopted aggressive policies in its neighbourhood. This article finds that the strategic binary of balancing (interest-based containment) and engagement (constructive cooperation) does not reflect immediate realities and long-term sustainability for regional actors. Instead, it suggests the latter would be better advised looking for closer cooperation with like-minded allies in the region (and beyond) as a way forward.

The principal objectives of this article are to describe the current state of International Studies (IS) in India, to analyze the reasons for its lack of robustness and the factors responsible for the absence of a vibrant scholarly community and, finally, to suggest a few remedial measures. The lack of the growth of IS is attributable to many factors— systemic, institutional, disciplinary and leadership-related. In many ways, the crisis in IS is only a part of the larger crises affecting Indian Higher Education. IS in India needs better leadership, clear direction and urgent reform.