This book analyzes examples of strategic engagement in order to identify the factors which contribute to the success or failure of defence diplomacy in preventing interstate conflict. For more than a century, nations have engaged in defence diplomacy to cultivate mutual understanding and mitigate conflict. A subset of defence diplomacy is strategic engagement, defined as peacetime defence diplomacy between nations that are actual or potential adversaries. This book analyzes three cases of strategic engagement in order to elucidate the factors which contribute to the success or failure of this diplomacy in preventing conflict. It uses an inductive framework to compare strategic engagement in the following cases: Anglo– German defence diplomacy prior to World War I; U.S.–Soviet defence diplomacy during the Cold War; and post-Cold War U.S.–China defence diplomacy. Based upon archival, literature, and personal interview research, the book argues that defence diplomacy can mitigate the risk of interstate conflict between potential adversaries. The lessons learned from this book can be employed to discern the significant elements conducive to achieving a successful outcome of strategic engagement and averting conflict or even war. This book will be of much interest to students of defence studies, diplomacy studies, foreign policy and international relations.

The post-cold war era presented security challenges that at one level are a continuation of the cold war era; at another level, these phenomena manifested in new forms. Whether the issues of economics and trade, transfer of technologies, challenges of intervention, or humanitarian crisis, the countries of the South (previously pejoratively labelled “Third World” or “developing” countries) have continued to address these challenges within the framework of their capabilities and concerns. The volume explores defence diplomacies, national security challenges and strategies, dynamics of diplomatic manoeuvers and strategic resource management of Latin American, southern African and Asian countries.

Analyses changing patterns of international military cooperation and assistance and shows that Western defence diplomacy is increasingly being directed towards new goals. The new defence diplomacy runs alongside the old and there are tensions between the two, in particular between the new goal of promoting democracy and the old imperative of supporting authoritarian allies.

The book The APPSMO Advantage: Strategic Opportunities is on the Asia Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO). APPSMO is a series of conferences organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and its predecessor, the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, for senior military officers of Singapore and other countries of the Asia Pacific, consisting of an intensive week-long programme of lectures, forums, and discussion groups. Very senior speakers share their views on strategic matters, and defence and military issues. The programme brings together key people whose fingers are on the trigger to enable them to communicate with each other directly and informally, thereby enhancing networking among their defence forces, while benefitting from contacts and exchanges between the scholarly and policy communities.

Africa’s unique position as an international diplomatic actor has not always been given the attention it deserves. This volume bridges this gap by offering a fresh, comprehensive and realistic overview of African diplomacy. The book examines African diplomatic practice. Chapters explore how different types of diplomacy have developed over time, including energy diplomacy, economic diplomacy and quiet diplomacy. Crucially, the book assesses how certain events have allowed Africa to use certain types of diplomacy to yield better outcomes for itself. Including contributions from an international team of scholars, policy makers and experts from the diplomatic world, the book provides a comprehensive guide to African diplomacy and challenges the current dominant usage of Northern perspectives on diplomacy studies.

The Routledge Handbook of Indian Defence Policy brings together the most eminent scholarship in South Asia on India’s defence policy and contemporary military history. It maps India’s political and military profile in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, and analyses its emergence as a global player. This edition of the handbook: Canvasses over 60 years of Indian defence policy, its relation to India’s rising global economic profile, as well as foreign policy shifts; Discusses several key debates that have shaped defence strategies through the years: military doctrine and policy, internal and external security challenges, terrorism and insurgencies; Explores the origins of the modern armed forces in India; evolution of the army, navy and air forces; investments in professional military education, intelligence and net-centric warfare, reforms in paramilitary forces and the Indian police; Comments on India’s contemporary strategic interests, focusing on the rise of China, nuclearisation of India and Pakistan’s security establishments, and developments in space security and missile defence. Taking stock of India’s defence planning architecture over the past decade, this accessibly written handbook will be an indispensable resource for scholars and researchers of security and defence studies, international relations and political science, as well as for government thinktanks and policymakers.

This book analyses the nearly 30 years of India–ASEAN relations from a contemporary perspective, identifies the reasons for India’s vibrant and significant relation with ASEAN and examines the cultural, economic, political and strategic linkages between India and ASEAN. The book projects the future of India–ASEAN relations in the face of the changing Indo-Pacific geopolitics and explores potential policies which could enhance the connection between India and Southeast Asian countries. Arguing that ASEAN is of primary importance to India, the book suggests that any successful outing in the Indo-Pacific would need a strong partnership with India. The book demonstrates how external powers influence ASEAN, with many of them supporting the centrality of ASEAN and its regional architecture in the broader Indo-Pacific. Chapters by experts in their fields present thematically specific analyses of political, defence, maritime and cultural aspects as well as the position of Northeast India in the India–ASEAN relations and assess the success and challenges of India’s ties with ASEAN in the context of the Look East and the Act East Policies. A reassessment of ASEAN–India relations past and present, this book will be of interest to academics and policy makers working in the field of International Relations, Asian Politics and South Asian Politics, in particular India’s Foreign Policy and Southeast Asian Politics.

At a time when diplomatic practices and the demands imposed on diplomats are changing quite radically, and many foreign ministries feel they are being left behind, there is a need to understand the various forces that are affecting the profession. Diplomacy remains a salient activity in today's world in which the basic authoritative actor is still the state. At the same time, in some respects the practice of diplomacy is undergoing significant, even radical, changes to the context, tools, actors and domain of the trade. These changes spring from the changing nature of the state, the changing nature of the world order, and the interplay between them. One way of describing this is to say that we are seeing increased interaction between two forms of diplomacy, 'club diplomacy' and 'network diplomacy'. The former is based on a small number of players, a highly hierarchical structure, based largely on written communication and on low transparency; the latter is based on a much larger number of players (particularly of civil society), a flatter structure, a more significant oral component, and greater transparency. The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy is an authoritative reference tool for those studying and practicing modern diplomacy. It provides an up-to-date compendium of the latest developments in the field. Written by practitioners and scholars, the Handbook describes the elements of constancy and continuity and the changes that are affecting diplomacy. The Handbook goes further and gives insight to where the profession is headed in the future. Co-edited by three distinguished academics and former practitioners, the Handbook provides comprehensive analysis and description of the state of diplomacy in the 21st Century and is an essential resource for diplomats, practitioners and academics.

This book explores civil–military relations in Asia. With chapters on individual countries in the region, it provides a comprehensive account of the range of contemporary Asian practices under conditions of abridged democracy, soft authoritarianism or complete totalitarianism. Through its analysis, the book argues that civil–military relations in Asia ought to be examined under the concept of ‘Asian military evolutions’. It demonstrates that while Asian militaries have tried to incorporate standard, Western-derived frameworks of civil–military relations, it has been necessary to adapt such frameworks to suit local circumstances. The book reveals how this has in turn led to creative fusions and novel changes in making civil–military relations an asset to furthering national security objectives.

New technological innovations have given birth to paradigms such as robotization, increased and advanced mechanization, and dehumanization of public diplomacy around the world. Other related developments have been the acceleration and growing popularization of the smart city concept as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which have all combined to compel almost all major industries—including diplomacy—to shift online and to be revolutionized. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digitalization of Diplomacy explores the influences of the new ICTs, AI, and smart cultures on the conduct of public diplomacy. It further examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conduct of digital diplomacy in the world and analyzes the implications of the dynamics of ICTs and AI for teaching and research in digital diplomacy. Covering topics such as defense diplomacy, the fourth industrial revolution, and technological determinism, this premier reference source is an essential resource for diplomats, politicians, government officials, ICT developers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.