Home Publications Book Reviews
Book Reviews
The New Arthashastra, Ed Gurmeet Kanwal, Harper Collins Publishers, Noida (Uttar Pradesh), 2016, pp 436, INR 799
Maj Gen (Retd.) P K Chakravorty

Book Review

The Arthashastra is an insight into the political thoughts of Kautilya. The book was written around 250 BCE. The most interesting idea presented in the book is the Mandala theory of interstate relations. Mandala represents the universe and our own...

December 26, 2016
National Security and Strategic Studies
Tags: Arthashastra, Cyber warfare, Internal Security, Maritime Security, NSCS, Political thoughts, Security strategy
Review Essay: ‘Deadly Impasse: Indo-Pakistani Relations at the Dawn of a New Century’, Dr Sumit Ganguly
Brig Gurmeet Kanwal

Book Review

The terrorist attack at an army camp in Uri in mid-September 2016 was followed by several surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) by the Special Forces of the Indian Army. Since then, India-Pakistan relations have deteriorated steadily and...

December 1, 2016
Pakistan, Neighbourhood Studies
Tags: Ballistic Missile, India-Pakistan, Indian Army, LoC, POK, SAARC summit, Surgical Strikes
At the Center of The Storm- My Years at the CIA by George Tenet, Former Director CIA & The Great War of Our Time- the CIA’s Fight Against Terrorism- From al Qaida to ISIS by Michael Morell, Former Dy. Director CIA
Ajit Lal, Former Chairman, JIC

Book Review

These two books paint a contemporaneous picture of the CIA’s fight against Islamic terrorism. George Tenet was the Director, CIA from 1997 to 2004, having the unique distinction of serving two Presidents, Clinton and Bush. While Tenet was inducted...

September 12, 2016
National Security and Strategic Studies, Terrorism
Tags: CIA, Intelligence agencies, Islamic terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan’s security
Modi and the World: The Ring View Inside Out; Ed. by Yamini Chowdhury and Anusua Diya Chowdhury; Bloomsbury Publishers; New Delhi; Pages 317; Price Rs. 499
Lt General R K Sawhney, PVSM, AVSM, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, National Security and Strategic Studies & Internal Security Studies, VIF
RNP Singh

Book Review

Two years two months, 51 foreign trips on six of the seven continents of the world which covered 42 countries and included UN General Assembly meetings and scores of multilateral engagements; the debutant Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stirred the...

August 9, 2016
International Relations and Diplomacy
Tags: Diplomacy, foreign policy, Modinomics, Modi’s engagements, PM Modi, UN General Assembly
Half Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India; Vinay Sitapati; Penguin Viking Books
Rajesh Singh

Book Review

When Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao became the country’s Prime Minister, he came with few expectations. His track record as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (then undivided) and many years later as Union Cabinet Minister was mediocre. The party...

July 28, 2016
Governance and Political Studies
Tags: 10 Janpath, Congress leader, Gandhi, Narasimha Rao
The Berlin-Baghdad Express; Sean McMeekin; Penguin Books 2011; PP 461; Price Rs 550; eBook Rs 413
Amb Prabhat P Shukla

Book Review

Ideas & Ideologies That Provoked World War I Still Pose A Threat

August 27, 2014
International Relations and Diplomacy
Tags: Berlin-Baghdad Express, European Powers, First World War, Suez Canal
Bangladesh Migrants: A Threat to India; P K Mishra; Gyan Publishing House; PP 304; Price Rs 910
Dr A Surya Prakash

Book Review

A Diligent Field Report on Illegal Migration and its Impact on India’s Unity and Integrity Bangladesh Migrants: A Threat to india by Mr. Pavas Kumar Mishra , retired Additional Director-General of the Border Security Force, is a rare book that...

August 6, 2014
Bangladesh, Neighbourhood Studies
Tags: Bangladesh Migrants, Internal Security, Muslim, national security, Supreme Court
The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World; T V Paul; Random House India; PP 257; Price Rs 499
Sushant Sareen

Book Review

A Wonky State Behaving Like Warrior State

June 13, 2014
Pakistan, Neighbourhood Studies
Tags: Indian origin, Paradox of Pakistan, Warrior State
Reaping the Whirlwind; Michael Griffin; Pluto Press; PP 283; Price: Rs 1834
Amb Prabhat P Shukla

Book Review

Afghanistan 2014: Forward to the Past? This is not a recent book, comparatively speaking; it was published in 2001, but remains topical. It covers the rise of the Taliban in the mid- to late-1990’s, and examines the main actors in the rise of this...

May 6, 2014
Afghanistan, Neighbourhood Studies
Tags: America, Osama Bin Laden, Pashtun, Taliban, UN Security Council, US East African Missions, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Avoiding the Fall; Michael Pettis; Carnegie Endowment 2013; PP 157; Price Rs 1238 & The Great Rebalancing; Michael Pettis; Princeton University Press 2013; PP 219; Price Rs 1859
Amb Prabhat P Shukla

Book Review Imbalances in Global Economy: Averting another Crisis

It makes sense to review the two books together and not just because they are written by the same author, and within a short period of each other [both were written in 2013]. The more compelling reason for doing so is that they deal with the same...

April 7, 2014
China, International Relations and Diplomacy
Tags: Chinese economy, GDP growth, Global Economy
Contact Us