This book is a compilation of 30 pioneering papers on issues connected with India`s nation`s defence. These papers are a part of the vast repository of VIF publications over the past decade of its functioning as a strategic think tank with the purpose of addressing the complex commitments on defence that the State has been confronted with. The titles have been selected to cover a wide range of aspects of national defence and military administration, thus depicting a panorama of India`s military security challenges. More importantly, as the reader would find, even the dated papers remain relevant to this day in charting the evolution of India`s strategic concerns in a tumultuous security environment that we find ourselves.

The book is premised at invoking national strategic conscience among the thinking fraternity. It is hoped that the analyses and inferences propositioned in the Book would generate informed debate on this sensitive subject.