(1). Give a critical account of Kautilya’s view on diplomacy and statecraft.

• Kautilya’s Arthasastra is considered to be the most comprehensive political treatise

of ancient Indian political thought. Although it encompasses multi-dimensional
subject matters like economics, ethics, sociology, espionage, warfare, education
etc., yet the science of politics and statecraft remains the central theme of the
treatise. Thus, it is categorized as the book of public administration rather than
political philosophy.
• In Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the term ‘artha’ refers to the land inhabited by the
people. Thus Arthashastra has two-fold aims –
• It seeks to show that the ruler should protect his territory, from external threats and
internal conflicts, through proper administration of the state.
• It denotes how the territory can be expanded.
(7) As the pursuance of these two aims were primarily concerned with the internal as
well as external policies of the state, Kautilya’s Arthashastra had extensively dealt
with them by providing a deep analysis of the diverse subject matters, of politics,
sociology, administrative, justice etc.
Views on statecraft
(8) Arthasastra is considered as an extraordinary detailed manuscript on statecraft.
Kautilya emphasized that the all the actions of the King must be aimed at material
well-being of the people and security of the state from external threats as well as
internal conflicts.
(9) In Arthasastra, Kautilya has provided a deep analysis of the basic issue of statecraft
like organisation of the state, qualities of the ideal ruler, ethical and moral
foundation of society, norms of practical politics, warfare efficient administration
such as espionage system, corruption and its remedy etc. It is in this context of
detailed analysis, L.N. Rangarajan regards Kautilya as the great preceptor of
statecraft whose teachings have universal validity.
Views on diplomacy
• Kautilya’s Arthasastra is one of the earliest works on geopolitics, diplomacy and
inter-state relations. His ‘mandal theory’ is India’s most unique and comprehensive
contribution in the realm of foreign policy. According to geopolitics, state is an
organism which has to grow. In line with this, Kautilya held that each and every
state aims at sustenance of the existing realm accompanied by a constant effort
towards expansion of the empire. Thus, the states are expansionist by nature and
in this context, Kautilya has emphasized or preferred ‘power realisation' rather
than defence. Thus, he belongs to the school of ‘offensive realism’. In pursuance of
conducting relation between two states, Kautilya has proposed SHADGUNA
NEETI (6-fold policies) – ‘Sanghi, Vighra, Aasana, Yana, Samashraya and
Dvaidbhawa.

• In this sense, by providing a detailed analysis on the ways to conduct foreign policy
effectively, Kautilya has challenged the western idea that India lacked STRATEGIC
CULTURE. Although Kautilya’s mandal theory not completely applicable in the
present context of globalization and complex inter-dependence, but one cannot
ignore its relevance owing to its realist nature which forms the basic principle of
world politics.

(2). ‘Advent of Buddhist tradition marks a departure from Dharmashasta and

Arthashastra traditions of Indian political thoughts? Comment.
(i) According to Bhikhu Parekh, Hindu political thinkers conceptualised political life
in terms of two central concepts, namely, ‘danda’ and ‘dharma’. The term ‘danda’
means discipline, force, restraint or punishment. Hindu political thinkers generally
used it to refer to the punitive use of the coercive power of government. On the other
hand, ‘Dharma’, coming from the Sanskrit word ‘dhr’ meaning to hold, is that
which holds a society together. Generally, dharma is used to donote a ‘righteous
conduct’.
(ii) Although the two factors were accepted as complementary, Hindu political writers
chose to concentrate on one or the other, thereby giving rise to two different trends
or strands of political thought. In Dharmasastra, ‘dharma’ is the core idea
 discussed and discussion on ‘danda’ is peripheral. On the other hand,
‘Arthasastra’ concentrated on the organisation and mechanics of ‘danda’. The two
approaches differed primarily in their subject matter one choosing to explore
political life from the standpoint of 'danda' , the other form that of ‘dharma’.
(iii) Although, according to Bhikhu Parekh, ancient Indian political thought displays
remarkable continuity, it undergoes important changes in response to new
theoretical problems posed by the rise of new religious traditions or movements,
especially Buddhism, which is considered to be the ‘Rebel child of Hinduism’.
According to Bhikhu Parekh, the Hindu tradition of political thought met its most
radical criticism at the hands of Buddhism. Buddhism was atheistic in the sense
that it didn’t see the need to postulate the existence of god; it denied the divine
origin and the authority of Vedas; it rejected the caste system; it admitted women
to the religious order; advocating republic form of government, it founded
monasteries and organised them along the lines of the republican assemblies and
gave India the first experience of organised religion. It accepted the Hindu view
that the King’s principal duty was to maintain ‘dharma’ but rejected its caste-based
definition and content. ‘DHAMMA’ for them largely meant the basic social
morality.
(iv) However the Buddhist challenge didn’t lead to radical reformation of the Hindu
tradition. This is because the Buddhist political thought was not sufficiently radical
and subversive. It continued to share some basic Hindu beliefs such as life is full of
sorrow, a man’s ‘Karma’ in his previous life determines his destiny in this life and
the ruler must maintain ‘dharma’. Moreover, while it challenged the Brahmanical
supremacy. It upheld those of the Ksatriyas.

(3). ‘Syed Ahmad recommended western education and scientific temper as the
instruments of social reforms and progress of the Muslim community in
India’.Elucidate and comment.
• Syed Ahmed Khan belonged to the time when the Muslim community was passing
through the phase of social stagnation. The situation became more complex when
the British rulers recognised Muslims as being primary responsible for the 1857
revolt.
• Apart from it, within the community itself, there were certain outdated and unsocial
practices which Syed Ahmad considered to be one of the important factors
responsible for the prevailing situation of the Muslims in the country. He was
fearful enough that under such conditions, Muslim community wouldn’t be able to
make any significant contribution in the history of human civilization.
• Therefore, Syed Ahmad started working on the idea that modernity and education
brings recognition. Hence, he advised Muslims to go for scientific learning and
develop scientific temper. In this context, he founded the scientific society (1863).
He also started a journal to promote scientific research, namely ‘Indian Institute
Gazette’. He firmly believed that being the most scientific of all religion, Islam must
be interpreted on scientific lines. Apart from it, he also brought at a magazine,
Tahzib-ul-akhlaq’ in order to end some of the practices with a view of reforming
Islam. However, such attempts at modernizing Muslim community even attracted
criticism from the orthodox sections of the community.
• Thus, it can argued, in the context of his vigorous attempts at reforming and
modernizing Islam and Islamists, that Syed Ahmed was a true visionary because
only a vision can transform an idea into such a mission.

(4) Explain the ‘End of History’ thesis and its relevance in context of present
developments in the world order.
• Political ideology has been an essential component of world history by intimately
involving in the continuing process of social transformation and political
development. Ideology has, therefore, come to be an indispensable feature of
human condition.
• However, few political thinkers have proclaimed the ideology has been brought to
an end. The ‘End of ideology’ thesis, proposed by Daniel Bell (1960) was based on
the fact that, post WW-2, politics in the west was characterized by broad agreement
amongst major political streams and the absence of ideological division. It was
evident from the fact that fascism and communism had both lost their appeal, while
 remaining streams concurrently aimed at delivering economic growth. In this
context, Daniel Bell argued that the political ideology has come to an end.
However as compared to ‘end of ideology’ thesis, a broader perspective was
adopted by Francis Fukuyama in his essay, ‘End of History’ (1989). Unlike Bell,
Fukuyama didn’t suggest that political ideas had become irrelevant. On the
contrary, he argued that one particular set of ideas, western liberalism had
triumphed over its rivals. His argument is based on the fact that defeat of fascism
in 1945 and collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe in 1989 has marked the
passing of these ideologies of world significance. Thus, by the ‘end of history’, he
meant that history of ideas had ended and with it, fundamental ideological debate.
He argued that there’s an emerging agreement about the desirability of liberal
democracy characterized by market economy and an open, competitive political
system.
However, critics argue that although eastern Europe revolution (1989-91) and
dramatic reform of surviving communist regimes such as China have altered the
worldwide balance of ideological debate, it can’t be claimed that the process
amounts to ‘end of history’. While liberal democracy have made impressive
progress during the 20th century, it has received challenge from the revival of
religious fundamentalism, multiculturalism and communitarian ideologies. Thus, it
can be argued that contrary to the claim of ‘end of history’, ideological conflict and
debate are unlikely to have ended with the ultimate worldwide triumph of
liberalism.

(5) Compare and contrast Focault’s theory of power with that of Gramsci.
• The idea of power has assumed a great importance in the realm of political theory.
It has been interpreted differently by different schools of thought. While Marxists
interpreted power as control or domination over economic structure, Hannah
Arendt envisaged a constructive view of power as empowerment.
• Michael Focault has challenged the conventional understanding of power. He
moves away from the sovereignty– centric (Hobbesian) conception of power and
power as domination to what he calls as ‘disciplinary power’, which is the post-
modernist view of power.
• Instead of traditional macroview of power in terms of political or economic
structure, Focault provides a micro level analysis of power. According to him,
power is not limited to any particular institutions rather ‘power is everywhere and
is dispersed throughout the society in the form of networks of capillaries. Thus,
Focault proposes an alternative model in which power relations dissipate through
all relational structures of the society. He argues that a society without power
relations can only be an abstraction and in every social field, there’re relations of
power throughout. Every person gets exercised by power of others and at the same
time, exercises his own power over others.
• According to Focault, power must be analyzed as something which circulates and
functions only in the form of a chain. He argues that power is employed and
exercised through a net like organization and can be found in any type of relation
between the members of society. He held that power produces discipline, through
the methods of punishment and reward, which is intended to assure the cohesion of
the social body. This way of understanding power has two key features –
• Power is a network of relations encompassing the whole society, rather than a
relation between the oppressed and oppressor.
• Individuals are not the objects of power, but they’re the laws where the power and
the resistance to it are exerted.
Gramsci’s theory of power
o Concepts of Marxist theory are created around the relationship between ‘base’
(economic structure) and ‘super structure’ (constituted by legal, politico-cultural
structures such as state, church, family etc).
o Classical Marxists has given the dominant or the only relevant position to the
economic base and envisaged that the superstructure is the mere reflection of the
base. In this sense, they considered ideology (a part of superstructure) as mere
reflection of economic base and thus, ideology plays no role in society.
o However, on the other hand, Gramsic, under the influence of Bendetto Croce, has
realised the importance of cultural and ideological factors. Gramsci divided the
superstructure into two levels i.e. civil society and political society (state), which
 corresponds to the two different conceptions of power. According to Gramsci, the
civil society exerted power through social norms, culture, values and ideas in a
manner that there’s a domination of particular set of ideas and values as they have
a tendency to become common-sense and intuitive, thereby restricting the
possibilities of emergence and articulation of alternative ideas and values. Thus,
the civil society plays an important role on manufacturing consent as a ‘structure
of legitimation’. Gramsci referred to this ideological domination as ‘hegemony’,
which is an internalized form of domination. On the other hand, the state
represented the second level of power (coercive power) which becomes operational
only when ideological domination (hegemony) fails.
o In this way, Gramsic theorized that the dominant class maintain its position through
a mix of sheer force (coercive force through state) and hegemony through the
control of society by cultural means Gramsci asserted that the ‘consent’ of the ruled
is a crucial difference between the power exercised as domination and power
exercised as hegemony.

(6). Discuss the relationship between power, authority and legitimacy. Critically
examine the concept of legitimation crisis.
• ‘Power’ is the central concept of polities and holds the same states in political
sciences as held by concept of money in the realm of economics. The significance
of power in the political arena was brought out by traditional thinkers like
Machiavelli, Hobbes etc as well as by modern thinkers like Max Weber,
Morgenthau etc.
• In social and political theory, power refers to the ability to do things and the
capacity to produce effects within social interaction. In this sense, power is a type
of behaviour and specifically derives from the existence of social relationships and
organized social interactions. In conventional sense, power is considered as
domination. According to Robert Dahl, power is a relational concept. On the other
hand, scholars like Hannah Arendt has given non-conventional view of political
power. According to her, political power doesn’t mean ‘power over’ (domination)
 but ‘power to’ (empowerment) i.e. power as an enhanced capacity emerging from
collective action.
• ‘Legitimacy’ reflects the consent of the governed i.e. the exercise of power that has
the consent of the governed is considered to be legitimate. The power that is
complied with because it has legitimacy is termed as 'authority'.Thus power and
legitimacy play complementary roles in securing obedience to the commands of
authority. According to Rousseaw, even the strongest man is never strong enough
until he converts his strength into right and his power into authority. Hence,
legitimacy is a pre-condition for governability, which transforms naked power into
authority. Max Weber has suggested that state represents authority as the use of
power by state is considered to be legitimate by the people. Thus, according to Max
Weber, the relationship between power, legitimacy and authority can be explained
through the equation.
‘Authority’ = ‘Power’ + ‘Legitimacy’.
Legitimation crisis
• Legitimacy reflects the consent of the governed as it transforms naked power into
rightful authority. It confers upon an order or command an authoritative or binding
character. This forms the basis of any political system as it ensures obligation of
the governed and, thus, avoiding instability of the political system.
• Legitimation crisis is a condition, during which a political system is unable to evoke
efficient commitment or sense of authority to properly govern. It represents a
decline in the confidence and acceptance of administrative functions, institutions
or leadership. Thus, whether legitimacy is conferred by willing consent or it is
manufactured by ideological indoctrination, it is ‘sine qua non’ for the maintenance
of any system of political rule.

• In his work ‘legitimation crisis (1973)’, Habermas, a neo-marxist scholar, argued

that within a liberal democratic set-up, there’re ‘crisis tendencies’ which challenge
the stability of such regimes by undermining its legitimacy to govern. The core of
this argument is the tension between capitalist economy and a democratic political
set-up. The democratic force makes it necessary for the government to respond to
 popular demands, sanctioned by a number of political, social and other rights. In
order to meet the popular demands, government pursue such policies which
threatens the long-term survival of capitalist order.
• On the other hand, if the popular demands exceeds the limit within which the
government has the capacity and will to meet them, there emerges a wide gap
between the ability of the government to deliver and the expectations of the people.
According to Anthory King, this problem is one of the ‘government overload’.
• In a capitalist system, there’s a limit to which the political system can be used to
meet the popular demands. In this context, Habermas argues that the capitalist
society is based on the fundamental contradiction of social production verses
private appropriation. This suggest that liberal democracies cannot permanently
satisfy both popular demands for social security and welfare rights on one hand
and requirements of a market economy based upon private profit.
• Thus, emerges a situation when, in an attempt to balance the democratic pressures
and risk of economic collapse, government find it difficult to maintain its
legitimacy. This, according to Habermas is a consequence of lack of factor of
‘requisite quantity’ that creates a wide gap between what the people demand and
what the structure can supply. It is this gap that manifests itself in the form of
‘legitimation crisis’ in the form of steady accumulation of public discontent,
popular protests and widespread dis-illusionment.

(7) Discuss the recent developments in the domestic policies of Sri Lanka. In the light
of recent development analyse the future prospect of India-Sri Lanka relations.
• ‘Domestic politics’, apart from the China factor, has always been an important
driver of India’s relations with its South-Asian neighbours, including Sri Lanka.
Recently, the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the new President of Sri Lanka
has brought out the question of future prospects of India-Sri Lanka relations.
According to C. Raja Mohan, the return of Rajapaksa has been widely feared in
New Delhi as heralding the renewal of authorization rule in Sri Lanka. Apart from
it, Rajapaksa are seen as being inclined to China.
 • However despite the anxieties in New Delhi about Rajapaksa, the recent election
in Sri Lanka offers an opportunity –
I. According to C. Raja Mohan, the election of a strong interlocutor offers Delhi an
opportunity to explore the prospects of a reconstruction of the relationship. This is
important because earlier attempts by India’s leadership to repair the relationship
failed due to the fracture in Sri Lanka’s power structures and poor governance in
the previous regime.
II. As Sri Lanka ties with other powers (especially China) has always been of some
concern to Delhi, Sri Lanka has assured India of being mindful of the sensitivities
of its larger neighbour. This, according to C. Raja Mohan, is a realist recognition
of Sri Lanka in provoking India.
III. As Sri Lanka leadership has promised to reform and reorient the economy, there’s
considerable room for creative Indian policy for economic engagement with Sri
Lanka under Gotabaya.
• However, the question of post-civil war reconciliation and respect for the dignity
of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka remains a contentions issue in the relationship,
especially in the context of the strong majoritarian sentiment of the support base of
the new government in Sri Lanka. According to C. Raja Mohan, India must follow
a realist approach and shouldn’t present itself as a demander on Sri Lanka’s
internal political arrangement which could be counter-productive.

(8) What’s the significance of BRICS for India? What’re the major outcomes of the
recent BRICS summits in Brazilia and in what way that adds to India’s national
interest?
• BRICS, the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa, comprises 42.58% of the world population,
20% of the global GDP, 17% of the global trade and 13.24% of the World Bank
voting power. Fareed Zakaria has described the emergence of BRICS as the
beginning of ‘Post-American world order’. It symbolized the ‘decline of West and
Rise of Rest’.
 Significance for India
I. Geopolitically – It provides India with the much needed strategic space to balance
its relationship East 9’Russia-China axis) and West (USA). According to C. Raja
Mohan, through BRICS is a ‘MOTLEY-COW’. India looks in BRICS grouping.
II. Voice of developing nations – From the Indian perspective BRICS has emerged as
the voice of developing countries, which face an aggressive club of developed
countries, raising challenges on issues from WTO to climate change. The
importance of BRICS is evident from the fact that it has been instrumental in
building a new model of ‘South-South cooperation’.
III. Terrorism – BRICS also provides a platform for India to Galvanize its efforts
against terrorism and has worked within the grouping to take a strong stand against
terrorism and bring about focused cooperation on specific aspects related to
terrorism.
Key outcomes of 11th BRICS summit (Brasilia)
• The most important outcome of the summit was the decision of the Joint working
group on counter-terrorism to constitute sub-working groups in 5 areas – terrorist
financing use of internet for terrorist purposes, countering radicalisation, issue of
foreign terrorist fighters and capacity building. From the Indian perspective, the
fact that BRICS has put counter – terrorism on top of the agenda has been a success
for India.
• Even at a time when the five countries of the grouping are witnessing political
divergences, they expressed a common vision for the world’s economic future with
an emphasis on multilateralism. For India, the articulation of this vision comes at
an important time as the failure to join RCEP had raised questions about whether
India is reversing its market liberalisation and openness to trade.