Highlight the points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy

Introduction

Highlight the points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy. International Relations (IR) scholarship in India is notable for its quest to question and challenge the dominance of Western theories. This has led to attempts to draw the eye towards the pitfalls of counting on Western approaches to know IR. 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, JayantanujaBandopadhyaya’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 . 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.

The  points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of 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 ,” Stanley Hoffman provides an account on why modern IR has been so closely related to the US. 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.

 

IR in India: Challenging the “realist” approach

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. it's been observed that realism, with its specialise in the state, has led to the The  points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy  “…disciplinary inclination to hunt patronage from the dominant actor within the discipline.”[iii] 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.” While Morgenthau continues to tell IR thinking, “…the more dominant contemporary voice within this lineagethat of Kenneth Waltz.” actually , 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. This has led to the eclipsing of the “nuances of the region in IR scholarship.”

The Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of 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, but also overlapping surrender to the predominant methodological (precisely epistemological) surrender to neorealism , positivism – and to top it all scientism.” the very fact that realism has played a big role in shaping IR thinking in India is attested by the observations of two well-regarded scholars, A.P. Rana and K. P. Misra. consistent with them, Indian writing on IR features a “submerged theoretical base,” a crucial element of which is that the “intensive but inchoate institutionalisation of the tenets of state-centric realism, in several of its manifold forms.”

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Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy Shibashis Chatterjee further underlines the issues related to realism when he comments: “The realist case…conceives itself in universal terms, and thus engenders a sort of subjectivity where history and geography are both irrelevant and inconsequential.”[viii] In his analysis of the essential postulates of realism, Chatterjee analyses the intramural debates within structural realism like offensive versus defensive realism, and balancing versus band-wagoning. In doing so, he engages with the works of Kenneth Waltz, Stephen Walt, and John Mearsheimer.

If realism, indeed, has had an impression on the minds of the many a scholar of IR with reference to India, it's worth assessing the character of recent scholarship that's being produced as a result. What quite realist scholarship is being produced and what does that tell us about the search to challenge the dominance of realism, and identify (as well as generate) more indigenous ways of brooding about IR in India? While this brief doesn't attempt a comprehensive analysis, some tentative observations might be made on the idea of an initial probe. Four peer-reviewed journals on diplomacy published in India – India Quarterly, International Studies, Jadavpur Journal of diplomacy , and South Asian Survey – are examined for articles that have mentioned realism or some realist formulation in their titles


“Neoclassical realism” and a state’s exercise of choice

The  points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy Based on this brief review of varied journals and books, it appears that within the broader realist approach, neorealism is indeed a well-liked lens in understanding the dynamics related to India’s relations with other countries.

However, classical realism also features within the scholarship especially when discussing the role of morality in India’s policy . it's thus a touch surprising when the eye seems to be towards neorealism. Rajesh M. Basrur writes in his article within the South Asian Survey, “the very sparseness and tightness of Waltz’s theory, which relegates everything but structure (viewed as anarchy and power distribution among states) to the realm of process and thus beyond the pale of scientific theorising, leaves little or no scope for explaining the overwhelming majority of events that occur in international politics.

Marxist and Social Contract Theory of the Origin of States

The  points of divergence in the Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy

The  Realist and Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy

Inter-dependence approaches to the study of Indian foreign policy

The  study of Indian foreign policy

Indian foreign policy