The United Service Institution of India was founded in 1870 by a soldier scholar, Colonel (later Major General) Sir Charles MacGregor. The story of its growth is the story of the growth of the Indian Armed Forces. It was founded for ‘furtherance of interest and knowledge in the art, science and literature of the Defence Services.’
The topic for the research is “Reimaging India’s Strategic Culture in the Emerging World Order”. The aim of the study is to analyse themes and deliberate on the pragmatic measures for India to reimage its strategic culture in the emerging World Order. Hard questions in the journey of research will be analysed as to why does India require an image makeover? Will image makeover assist in any hard power effect (like settling boundary issues etc)? There would also be many themes like Climate change, economic inequality, how to become a pluralistic society etc, which can be deliberated and can be pragmatically put into practice for reimaging India’s Strategic Culture in the emerging world order. By investigating various dynamic relations, the study seeks to provide insights into the opportunities with India, challenges in this arduous journey and strengths on which, India will pitch for this coveted position. Additionally, the study aims on how India can balance leadership role of the Global South and protect and further own domestic interests. Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to a deep understanding of various subsets of Comprehensive National Power that India can bring to the table while reimaging the strategic culture, which strives towards a pluralistic society with all-inclusive principles of Humanism. To reimage strategic culture it is imperative for India to become a vocal proponent of not only its interests but also of the Global South. But however, this initiative is not only limited to raising concerns in various international fora. Firstly, striking balance between addressing own core concerns and navigating ever emerging global landscape is a complex dilemma. Secondly, we have to assess what is India’s position in the emerging world order. Thirdly, we have to assess what is India’s capabilities and SWOT analysis wrt components of power, which will be required to be exercised to assume this mantel. This peculiar position should NOT be Non-Alignment 2.0 policy which some geopolitical analysts have postulated. Also, we have to be steadfast in maintaining our strategic autonomy, which forms an essential component of our strategic culture, especially post-independence in 1947.