Does the Elephant Dance? Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy

India today looms large globally, where it hardly loomed at all twenty years ago. It is likely to be a key global actor throughout the twenty-first century and could well emerge soon as one of the top five global powers. Does the Elephant Dance? seeks to survey the main features of Indian foreign policy. It identifies elements of Indian history relevant to the topic; examines the role of domestic politics and internal and external security challenges, and of domestic and international economic factors; and in successive chapters delves into the specifics of India's policy within its South Asian neighbourhood, and with respect to China, the US, West Asia (the Middle East), East Asia, Europe and Russia, and multilateral diplomacy. It also touches on Indian ties to Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. India's "soft power", the role of migration in its policy, and other cross-cutting issues are analyzed, as is the role and approach of several categories of foreign policy actors in India. Substantive conclusions close out the volume, and touch, inter alia, on the absence of an organizing framework for Indian foreign policy.

David M. Malone is President of the International Development Research Centre. He was Canada's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan and Nepal from 2006 to 2008. He has published extensively on peace and security issues, in book form and in journals. His books include The Law and Practice of the United Nations (OUP 2008) and The International Struggle Over Iraq (OUP 2006).