Excessive Reliance on 'Muscularity' is Likely to Cramp National Power

India, particularly under the present regime, has fetishized ‘muscularity’, and in this it model to emulate. Indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in the wake of the Baisaran massacre, echoed past Israeli proclamations, as he declared, “India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers.

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We will pursue them to the ends of the earth.” Operation Sindoor, we are told moreover, is now the “new normal”, and every act of terrorism traced back to Pakistan will provoke comparable reaction. Actual Indian responses, of course, suggest that this is substantially rhetoric, unlikely to be backed with corresponding action. Nevertheless, there have been, in the relatively recent past, clumsy attempts at imitation that have borne dubious fruit.

Of course, Israeli actions against enemies have long had a dramatic impact, perhaps unmatched by any other nation. Most recently, the assassination of high-profile military, political and intellectual leaders in Iran, the earlier and coordinated ‘pager and walkie-talkie explosions’ targeting the leadership as well as the rank and file of the Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as an unending series of targeted assassinations and theatrical operations over 75 years of Mossad’s extravagant history, are undeniable evidence of tactical brilliance and success. These successes do, however, obscure a significant history of botched operations and of strategic failure. In his book,