During the cold war era, India was positioned on the periphery of global politics resulting in minimal or no influence on major issues affecting the international system. New Delhi had focused on the Third World solidarity through Non-aligned Movement, and complete nuclear disarmament to make its presence felt on the international stage. The arena of international politics was largely dominated, guided and controlled by the major powers that determined the trajectory of global politics. Today, because of its meteoric rise in economic strength and military capability, India has moved to the centre of global politics. In this backdrop, the present volume extensively focuses on the conceptual and theoretical aspects centring on the myth and reality of India’s rise as a global power.
Introduction apart, the book has been divided into three parts based on conceptual, theoretical and strategic considerations. Section one deals with conceptual and theoretical issues that explain the very nature of India’s rise in the direction of becoming a global power since early 1990s, i.e. in the post-cold war years. Section two focuses on the strategically important areas from the perspective of India becoming a potential global power in the twenty-first century. The third and final section attempts to show how far or to what extent New Delhi’s march towards global power status has been practiced into reality through assessing India’s bilateral relations with some of the major powers like China and Japan, and a few strategically important neighbours—Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.
The book would be very useful to the students of international relations, researchers, diplomats and policymakers and evoke further scholarly debates on the issues taken up.
Dr. Raj Kumar Kothari is currently the Professor and former Head of the Department of Political Science at Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal. He completed M.A. in Political Science from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal in 1988 with first class first rank. He did his M.Phil. from the School of International Studies, Pondicherry University in 1990, and Ph.D. from the University of Mumbai in 1994.
He has published five books: From Communism to Democratic Freedom: Perestroika and New Thinking of Mikhail Gorbachev (New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications, 1994); 2. India-Russia Relations in the Post Soviet Years: Emerging Challenges and New Prospects (Heinrich, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013); 3. India’s Foreign Policy in the New Millennium [Ed.] (New Delhi: Academic Excellence, 2010); 4. Emerging India As a Global Player: Growing Ties and Challenges [Ed.] (New Delhi: Atlantic, 2012); 5. US Policy Towards China, India and Japan: New Challenges and Prospects [Co-Editor Madhuchanda Ghosh] (New Delhi: Atlantic, 2013).
Prof. Kothari has also participated and presented papers in more than 40 international, national and state level seminars and conferences and published about 30 research articles in various national and international journals.
Eyasin Khan, M.A., M.Phil., is Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Political Science at Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India. Previously he served as Assistant Professor at Bankura Christian College, Bankura. He stood first class first at the UG and PG levels for which he was awarded gold medals. He has eight books to his credit. He has also published research articles on different topics of social science in journals and edited books published from various parts of the country. He has presented papers at several state, national and international conferences, besides editing a journal, Nabyasrote.
