IWP 718
2 Credits
As the world’s most populous democracy with a strategic tradition spanning over five millennia, India has garnered significant global attention. With the fourth largest military force and rapidly growing economic and soft power influence, India’s strategic position on the global stage continues to strengthen. As the birthplace of four major world religions and with 22 officially recognized languages, New Delhi illustrates how a diverse non-Western democracy can flourish. India’s unique threat perception underscores its strict adherence to political neutrality and an independent foreign policy.
As such, this course is designed for those interested in exploring the historical development of India’s rise and its economic, ideological, geopolitical, and security implications for the broader Indo-Pacific region. It explores the bipartisan U.S. consensus to strengthen its partnership with India in countering China’s revisionist ambitions. Weekly seminar-style discussions begin with the evolution of U.S.-India relations since the Cold War. The lectures then focus on internal and external contemporary developments impacting various facets of the bilateral relationship amid a deteriorating threat environment at the subregional level.
Participants will explore how domestic and external constraints can be transformed into opportunities for deeper bilateral cooperation. The course concludes by examining potential areas for expanded Indo-American collaboration and multilateral engagement through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) – an informal strategic forum involving Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. that has gained significant attention in recent years.
