Jadavpur Journal of International Relations

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Latest documents

• The Economic Logic of Strongmen Politics
• Understanding Sub-State’s Agency in Regionalism: The Case of Yunnan in Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Initiative

  Regionalism constitutes an essential unit to understanding the nature and evolution of multi-actor-dominated contemporary international relations. The ‘subnational turn’ in the regional interactions recognizes the rising role of sub-state actors such as provinces in the ‘construction’ and ‘performance’ of the ‘regionness’ to access the developmental benefits of regional and globalized capital. This paper further enriches this insight by focusing on the interaction of two components, that is, the sub-regionalism and the agency of sub-state units. It focuses on China’s Yunnan province outreach in the context of Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar (BCIM) regionalization to critically reflect on the ‘transitioning’ agency of sub-state actors from imagining to implementing regionalism. Utilizing the analytical frameworks within paradiplomacy literature, the article emphasizes that sub-governments are substantive forces, ushering dynamic economic, political, and cultural international interactions. But, simultaneously, their power to invent and (re)define international standing is linked to larger scales of center and national. The sub-national lens on BCIM magnifies the opportunities and limitations at Yunnan’s disposal and identifies its agency as an ‘initiator’ and a ‘channel’ in the BCIM practice.

• Deradicalization of Repentant Boko Haram Militants: Institutional Dilemma Between the Victims and Villains in Northeast Nigeria

  Over the years, Boko Haram has taken the centre stage in Nigeria’s security concern and discourses as it consistently stands out on news headlines. After many years of counterinsurgency, Nigeria’s government realized the imperative of adopting a soft approach alongside military offensives to winning the war against insurgency. One soft approach is the institution of deradicalisation programme. Extant literature on the inadequacies of Nigeria’s deradicalisation plans, and methodologies is yet to be considered from institutional deficiency perspective as the programme is characterized by the difficulty of balancing the treatment of repentant Boko Haram militants and ameliorating the conditions of insurgency victims. Taking a cue from selected countries, the study examines the prospects of Nigeria’s deradicalisation programme. The paper therefore concludes that Nigerian authorities progressively need to set up a well thought-out structure for successful deradicalisation and reintegration of surrendered Boko Haram militants while guaranteeing the safety of victims that would co-exist with the supposed ex-members of Boko Haram sect.

• India–Zimbabwe Relations: Recalibrating the Failing Engagement

  The India–Zimbabwe relations are rampant with obdurate omissions, commissions, misinformation, and proper attention, hence dismally productive. This investigation pins down the dismal relations to Zimbabwe’s economic quagmire, the inseparable China–Zimbabwe relations, Zimbabwe’s diplomatic isolation and the effects of sanctions enacted by the US and other Western countries. With both primary and secondary sources, an interpretive approach is used to generate and analyse data. The study outlines prospects that can recalibrate India–Zimbabwe relations, especially in the new dispensation era of Zimbabwe after Mugabe. The possibilities include leveraging the available business opportunities, energy and mineral resources, security, regional cooperation and conflict management, knowledge exchange, institutional building, and social cohesion.

• ‘Sovereign Democracy’: Russian Response to Western Democracy Promotion in the Post-Soviet Space

  Russia became apprehensive after the outbreak of Colour Revolutions in three former Soviet republics. Post-revolution, Russia’s foreign policy in general and its outlook toward the West in particular transformed significantly. Russian response to Western democracy promotion became more pronounced. Against this backdrop, the concept of Sovereign Democracy has to be understood. It aims to not only defend the Russian regime from Western meddling but also undertake a vigorous international campaign to assert its great power status. This article deals with the meaning and rationale of Sovereign Democracy as a response to Western democracy promotion in a nuanced way. The study attempts to deal with the following research questions: How does Russia perceive and react to Colour Revolutions? How Sovereign Democracy enables Russia to restructure its foreign policy to challenge the Western democracy-promotion agenda in the post-Soviet space? How do the political institutions and historical narratives of anti-Westernism allow Russia to respond to Colour Revolutions? Lastly, whether Putin is able to reshape public opinion in Russia not only in favor of having an alternative model of democracy against the dominant Western one but also a favorable public opinion to justify Russian actions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.

• The Three Decades of Look East Policy and India’s Northeast Region

  India has been trying to enhance overland trade and the movement of people between South and Southeast Asia through its northeast region, as well as Myanmar and Bangladesh. To materialize this, the Look East policy has been giving due emphasis on developing strategic roads and logistic facilities in the northeast region. Myanmar and Bangladesh are also crucial to achieve the twin objectives, and hence India is supporting the development of transport infrastructure. Three decades later the outcome of the policy is merely limited to the upgradation of strategic roads that are thought to have regional importance and the putting in place the modern logistical facilities at several border towns. Interestingly, the states of the region that share a border with Bangladesh are going to reap the benefit of the policy sooner as compared to the states sharing a border with Myanmar.

• K. B. Usha (Eds.), Nation Building in Baltic States: History, Memory and Identity. New Delhi: Adroit Publications, 2018, pp. 236, ₹658 (hardcover).
• India’s Role in the Indian Ocean Region and Its Links to the Indo-Pacific

  The main goal of this article will be to show how India’s role in the Indian Ocean region has changed over time and how it is linked to the wider Indo-Pacific region. In the beginning, the importance of the Indian Ocean to India’s overall naval security on a historical basis is pointed out. It is shown that Indian Ocean was the main conduit for carrying out trade with the subcontinent and also for the creation of the British Raj even though it did not receive the same attention from the land-based Indian states. Following this, the article moves on to how following its independence in 1947 India slowly started to realize the importance of the Indian Ocean and later on the wider Indo-Pacific to its national security. Step by step it is shown how India’s maritime policy has evolved over the years. In this respect, the importance of the decade of the 1990s is highlighted when India began to open up not only economically but in all other ways as well. The role of the United States in India’s naval expansion is also explained in detail during both the Obama and the Trump administrations. Here specifically the article focuses on the ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy of the Obama administration and how it impacted India. After this it is described how President Trump further pushed India to take a more active stance in the Indo-Pacific region. Next, the Indo-Pacific policy of the present Modi government is studied along with a detailed analysis of the ‘extended neighborhood’ concept in India’s Indo-Pacific policy. India’s relation with the island nations of the Indo-Pacific is scrutinized in a separate section. India’s role in the QUAD forum is also properly discussed. Finally, India’s involvement in the three main multilateral initiatives in the Indo-Pacific is laid out before coming to the concluding section.

• Analyzing Prospects and Implications of CPEC on Baloch Imbroglio in Pakistan

  Baloch struggle is a long-drawn battle against the state of Pakistan and its mighty security establishment that has rather intensified by each passing day. The heightened ethnic consciousness and resolve to defend their homeland from the ‘outsiders’ have got a fillip with China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The province of Balochistan has assumed strategic significance due to its location and natural resources. With the presence of China in the province, woes of Baloch nationalists have further grown. Pakistan will not let its control loose over the province and deepening ties with Beijing is reassuring for her. CPEC has increased existential difficulties for the Baloch people. In this context, the present article attempts to analyze the Baloch imbroglio as a struggle of the people of the province to protect their rights against the exploitation by the federal government in collaboration with a country which itself is rated as poor in terms of upholding human rights. It highlights the prospects of CPEC and its impact on the ongoing Baloch ethnic nationalism.

• In the Age of Globalization 4.0: BIMSTEC, Sri Lanka, and Technology

  The age of globalization ushered in by the fourth industrial revolution has completely transformed the way individuals in an economy operate and interact with one another. At the helm of this revolution lies technological innovation. The article tries to evaluate the progress made by member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) with regard to technological enhancement. It also evaluates how Sri Lanka, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the technological revolution in the region has progressed and what challenges lie ahead for the regional bloc. This article explores the importance of technology imports and the high digital skill levels in the workforce, and how these will be instrumental in the economic growth of nations. The last section discusses the gains that member states stand to make if they digitize their economies and parallelly establish necessary regulations.

Featured documents

• “Enemy at the Gates”: An Analysis on India’s Experiences with the Taliban

  India’s long history of relations with Afghanistan dates back to the time of the Mauryans. It became even stronger after India’s independence in 1947. Since 1947, India has always maintained the policy to support whosoever comes to power in Kabul, but in 1996, there was a shift from that policy as...

• Regional Processes and Geopolitics of India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (IATU)

  The article attempts to examine the nature of interaction that exists among India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (IATU) and the need to give an institutional basis to such a relationship spanning across Central and South Asia. Using some of the existing theoretical frameworks of regional...

• Russia–China–Pakistan Engagement in the Changing Global Context: Scrutinizing the Realist Logic of a Trilateral ‘Axis’

  Russia’s robust engagement with China coupled with the recalibration of its ties with Pakistan, coming at the backdrop of Russia’s increasing estrangement with the West, Pakistan’s dissatisfaction with the USA over the suspension of security assistance, and India’s closeness toward the latter are...

• The Emerging China, Pakistan, and Russia Strategic Triangle: India’s New Gordian Knot

  The primary cause for the emerging triple axis including China, Russia, and Pakistan in South Asia has been to curtail the Indo-US extended political, economic, and military connections. India in the post-Cold War era tilted significantly toward the West, the move which has been equally ostracized...

• The US State-building in Afghanistan: An Offshore Balance?

  Abstract The US policy in Afghanistan in the context of 9/11, under the broader rubric of the War on Terror (WoT), primarily was to topple the Taliban regime. Because the regime disagreed to comply with the US administration’s demand to extradite Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the...

• The Economic Plans of the Great Powers in Central Asia: Implications for Iran

  This article charts Iran’s relations with Central Asia following the break-up of the Soviet Union. This event gave Iran a new set of neighbors to the north, and this came at a time when Iran was undergoing changes in the direction of its foreign policy from radical idealistic goals, such as the...

• A Case for Coherence as Analytical Tool: ISI’s Use of Taliban and Pakistan’s Foreign Policy

  Abstract Coherence as a quality demonstrates logic, consistency, and unity between thought and action to create a unified whole. By extension, the testing of foreign policy coherence involves the evaluation of the congruence or divergence between the intended/expected and actual outcomes. This use...

• Russia’s Changing Relations with Pakistan and Taliban: Implications for India

  Historically, India–Russia cooperation has largely been dictated by geopolitical factors. During the Cold War era, their relationship was defined by their similar strategic perceptions of the world. However, post-Cold War global politics has seen several transformations in geopolitical and...

• Cyberspace in the Post-Soviet States: Assessing the Role of New Media in Central Asia

  Abstract Since independence, the five post-Soviet States of Central Asia have taken divergent trajectories of economic growth as well as civil and political liberties. Respective regimes still try to regulate information flow in a continuation of the Soviet era, with the possible exception of...

• India in Afghanistan

  Ever since the declaration of the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan in 2001, New Delhi has heavily invested in humanitarian assistance, development projects and nation-building activities in that country with a view to cultivate a mutually beneficial relationship with Kabul and thereby enhance its own ...