Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy

by C. Raja Mohan

In Crossing the Rubicon C.Raja Mohan gives a behind-the-scenes account of how India has grown from a peripheral player to a key participant at the top levels of global diplomacy. Exploring India's renewed foreign policy from the 1980s through the nuclear tests of the 1990s to its current strategy, Mohan looks at two crucial issues that account for this revolutionary the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a new wave of economic globalization. This book provides an incisive look at how India has reworked its relations with major powers--notably its new rapports with the United States and post-Soviet Russia--to become a major contributor in international affairs.

Genres: India, International Relations, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Deepanshu Aggarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was written in 2003, a time when India had recently reflected the changed realities of a post-Cold War world, through its re-alignment of foreign policy under PM Vajpayee. From what was impractical Nehruvian idealism (euphemism for the inability to understand and exhibit prudence over romanticism), India began its journey of realism and realpolitiks. The book captures that marked shift and the underlying events and themes such as : post-Pokhran diplomacy, realignment with the US, parity with China, market economy etc. Can skip if one has already read other works on these themes. Also, the book is a work of more history than diplomacy.

[Sukumar Honkote · Rating 4 out of 5]

C. Raja Mohan is a frequent contributor to Indian Express and writes insightful editorials on Indian Foreign Policy. This book was published in 2003 and covers the foreign policy maneuverings post the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Pokhran nuclear tests. The decade of 1990s set the template for foreign policy which is being followed now. That was the decade when India moved away from Non- Alignment Movement and more towards the West. The following are the 3 significant chapters in the book.

The first chapter deals with the great gamble of conducting Nuclear tests may 1998. It talks about the international pressure India faced before the tests and the fallout after. This chapter makes one realize the tremendous effort MEA put in containing the fallout and making the world understand the rationale for the tests and India's stance post declaring itself a nuclear state.

The second chapter deals with the history of Non-Alignment Movement, its objectives and failures. It talks how India transitioned out of it post the collapse of the Soviet Union and its own economic liberalization of 1991.

The fourth chapter deals with the alignment with US especially after 9/11 attack. By declaring that it would help US unconditionally in its fight against terror, India acquired a great friend. The Kargil misadventure by Pakistan found no international backing mainly due to America siding with India.

"If a single image captured India's strategic style, it was that of a porcupine- vegetarian, slow-footed and prickly. India was a reactive power, when the world impinged on it, India put up its sharp quills to ward off the threats." - A quote from the book. But the decade of 1990s have changed India's approach. We are becoming a proactive country creating a space for itself and sometimes occupying the space left by dying European powers.

Overall the book is good as it talks in depth about an important period in Indian history. My only gripe with the book is that, there are several repetitions. There are paragraphs about the improvement in India-US relations in all the chapters and that becomes quite boring.