The Long View from Delhi: To Define the Indian Grand Strategy for Foreign Policy

The arrival of India as a predominant regional power and a rapidly emerging global actor is among the great strategic transformations of the last hundred years. Despite its reputation as inward-looking and non-aligned, in the last two decades India has developed an appetite for global engagement based on its perception of dangerous and growing security challenges: China threatens; Pakistan and Afghanistan are in chaos; Iran seethes; and the Persian Gulf is an ever tenuous energy lifeline. Meanwhile, India retains a security relationship with its old patron, Russia, while it expands security and technology attachments to Israel. All these factors are leading to a paradigm-shifting strategic alliance with the United States.

In their new book, The Long View from Delhi, preeminent strategist Raja Menon and his collaborator, Rajiv Kumar argue that India needs a grand strategy. They analyze major influences on foreign and security policy in India, assess possible scenarios from an Indian perspective, and detail the likely impact on India's current and future national interests. They outline and dynamics and trajectories of a possible foreign policy strategy for India, assessing both costs and benefits.