Research Philosophy Wall
Intellectual propositions on statecraft, strategic autonomy, and the future of multipolar order — drawn from original theoretical contributions.
Power is not what you accumulate — it is what you orchestrate.
A state need not be the loudest voice in the room to shape the room's direction.
Coordination, not coercion, is the grammar of durable influence.
— On the central distinction driving the Samanvaya Doctrine, 2026
01 · Constraint
"
Scarcity is not India's weakness.
It is the very condition that forces strategic creativity — the discipline to do more with alignment than others do with abundance.
— Resource Constraint as Strategic Variable, IJNRD 2026
02 · Multipolarity
"In a multipolar world, the most consequential nations are not those who lead blocs — they are those who refuse to be trapped in one.
— On India's Multi-Platform Positioning, The Academic 2025
03 · Presence
"
Absence is never neutral.
When India vacates an institutional space, adversarial narratives do not pause — they expand to fill the void.
— Counterbalance Engagement Theory, The Academic 2025
04 · Samanvaya
Samanvaya Doctrine "Like an Indian thali — where no single flavour dominates and every element amplifies the others — India's grand strategy finds its genius not in supremacy of any single instrument, but in the purposeful harmony of all of them together.
— Conceptual Foundations of the Samanvaya Doctrine, IJNRD 2026
05 · Legitimacy
"
Coercion buys compliance.
Reassurance builds loyalty.
Only one of these compounds over time.
— On Soft Power as Force Multiplier, IJNRD 2026
06 · Engagement
CET Framework "Stay in the room — not to agree, but to ensure that no agreement is made without you.
— CET Core Principle, The Academic 2025
07 · Middle Powers
"Middle powers have long been treated as secondary actors in international relations theory. The Samanvaya Doctrine proposes a different reading: that constrained states, when they coordinate well, can be more strategically consequential than powerful states that act alone.
— On Middle-Power Theory of Strategy, IJNRD 2026
08 · Alliance
"Formal alliances bind a state to choices it has not yet made. Flexible partnerships preserve the sovereign right to decide — issue by issue, moment by moment.
— Limits of Alliance-Centric Models, IJNRD 2026
09 · Diplomacy
Counterbalance Engagement Theory "Proactive engagement, even in uncomfortable spaces, is not appeasement — it is counterbalancing through presence. Realism for a connected world.
— CET: Realist Yet Resilient, The Academic 2025
10 · Autonomy
"India's greatest foreign policy asset is not any single partnership — it is the credible capacity to partner with everyone without being owned by anyone.
— On Strategic Autonomy, The Academic 2025
The future of influence belongs to states that sequence wisely, signal credibly, and resist the temptation of dominance — for in a multipolar world, the ambition to be the only power in the room is the surest path to becoming unwelcome in every room.
— Concluding Synthesis, Research Programme 2025–2026
On the Nature of Power
"The Kautilyan tradition never confused capability with wisdom.
Samanvaya reclaims that distinction for the present age —
asking not 'how strong are we?' but 'how intelligently
do we deploy what we have?'"
— On Kautilyan Roots of the Samanvaya Doctrine, 2026