Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
India's Nuclear Proliferation Policy: The Impact of Secrecy on Decision Making, 1980-2010

India's Nuclear Proliferation Policy: The Impact of Secrecy on Decision Making, 1980-2010

Kampani, Gaurav

Paperback

Series: Asian Security Studies

General Political ScienceIndian & South Asian HistoryInternational Relations

ISBN10: 1032084677
ISBN13: 9781032084671
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Jun 30 2021
Pages: 196
Weight: 0.63
Height: 0.42 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

This book examines India's nuclear program, and it shows how secrecy inhibits learning in states and corrodes the capacity of decision-makers to generate optimal policy choices.

Focusing on clandestine Indian nuclear proliferation during 1980-2010, the book argues that efficient decision-making is dependent on strongly established knowledge actors, high information turnover and the capacity of leaders to effectively monitor their agents. When secrecy concerns prevent states from institutionalizing these processes, leaders tend to rely more on heuristics and less on rational thought processes in choices involving matters of great political uncertainty and technical complexity. Conversely, decision-making improves as secrecy declines and policy choices become subject to higher levels of scrutiny and contestation. The arguments in this book draw on compelling evidence gathered from interviews conducted by the author, with interviewees including individuals who were involved in nuclear planning in India from 1980 to 2010, such as former cabinet and defence secretaries, the principal secretary to the prime minister, national security advisors, secretaries to the department of atomic energy, military chiefs of staff and their principal staff officers, and commanders of India's strategic (nuclear) forces.

Also in

General Political Science

View All