Future Fire: Challenges Facing Indian Defense Policy in the New Century

Let me start with a confession. I am not a security fundamentalist. I am not one of those who believe that war makes the state and that the state exists only to make war. States have multiple objectives, many more than are sometimes imagined and given consideration. But when one looks at the broad sweep of history it becomes clear that countries cannot become great powers unless, at some level, they demonstrate mastery over the creation, deployment and the use of military force in the service of national objectives. I am not convinced that Germany and Japan represent an alternative form of politics to the kind that the international system has seen for at least the last two thousand years--in part because the exceptionalism of Germany and Japan was born out of the crucible of defeat and remains sheltered in an alliance relationship where others make arrangements for their protection. For a country like India, which essentially seeks to follow its own path, the rise to great power status will require it to be able to integrate the creation, deployment and use—and I use the term "use"—in the broadest sense of the word—of military instruments in support of national objectives. The ability to create and use military force for national purposes is, of course, not the only criterion for greatness. But it has to be an element integrated with other measures of greatness like economic prowess, social cohesion, and political stability. In this context, whether India can master military instruments of power and develop the tools that have made great powers for the last two thousand years will depend on its ability to master three macro and five micro problems.