A multidimensional assessment of national security

BOOK REVIEW

- DAMMU RAVI

During the Cold War, the idea of “national security” was usually narrowly viewed through a politico-military prism.

That understanding has now evolved, say Arvind Gupta and Rajesh Singh in this coauthored book. Mr Gupta is a former diplomat and currently director of the Vivekananda International Foundation. He was earlier deputy national security adviser and headed the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. He is one of the foremost scholars on national security and foreign policy. Mr Singh is a veteran journalist, author and media adviser on political and security matters. The authors point out that Operation Sindoor marked a turning point in the evolution of India’s national security criteria, while the Pahalgam terrorist attack compelled a deeper recalibration of India’s threat assessment. Keeping India’s concerns in the backdrop the book invites readers to examine the nontraditional threats caused by disruptions in finance, food, water, health, energy, climate change, technology as well as from terrorism and organised crime and so on.