Thru’ the Desk of the Editor
From Chanakya to Sun Tzu and Machiavehi to Clausuith none of them were great general. But, their thinking caused rise and fall of empires. Changed history and geography of the globe. They were strategist. They developed strategic culture. Strategic culture is an inherited body of political military concepts based on shared historical and social experience. Strategic culture shapes leader’s interpretation of international events, thereby producing certain preference orders regarding how behavioral pattern needs to emerge.
Of late, most thinkers seem to agree that, India does not have strategic culture. George K. Tanham states these reasons –
1. India lacked political unity for most of the history
2. Indian concept of time or rather lack of concept of time – Indians view life as an eternal present, with neither history, nor future – discourages planning
3. Indians consider life as a mystery, largely unknowable and not entirely under man’s control. This distracts strategic thinking
It will be noteworthy that, Indian philosophical traditions are remarkably eclectic. This diversity is the source of Indian civilizational thought process. However, I state here, two ancient traditions- Narayania tradition & Bhargava tradition; while Bhargava tradition is inclined towards diktats and stability, Narayania tradition is altruistic and evolutionary. While one is dogmatic, another focuses on social welfare. These traditions explain the richness of Indian ideology, refuting the above stated reasoning
Then why does it lack strategic culture? Indian academia and Professionalism resembles 6th century medieval structure, not in terms of aesthetics but in terms of functionality. They are so compartmentalized that, there is lesser scope to develop a multidisciplinary approach like strategy
U.S. Admiral Willey states, “I can’t claim that, Strategy is or can be a science in the sense of physical sciences. But it can and should be an intellectual discipline of the highest order and the strategist should propone oneself to manage ideas with precision, clarity and imagination. Thus, while strategy itself may not be a science, strategic judgment can be scientific to the extent that it is orderly, rational, objective, inclusive, inter – disciplinary and perceptible.”
This Journal is a platform for youth, bureaucrats, academicians, researchers, Defense Personnel to contribute their experiences, opinions, strategies, thought processes, to influence the Policy Makers in their work to form Security Policy for our country.
I believe, it will help us in sensitizing Indian youth and to bridge the gap between civilians, armed forces, strategist, as the nation which is internally strong and vibrant, will always be in better position to defend its borders and external aggression.
FINS considers the concept of ‘Security’ to be multidisciplinary and integrated phenomenon and this journal is an effort in that direction, so to say - scholastic contribution in its humble capacity. - Adv. S.N. Desai.
