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Strategy/Paper 2 – UPSC Mains Examination

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IASbaba’s International Relations Strategy/Paper 2 – UPSC Mains Examination
July 27, 2015 62 Comments Written by IASbaba
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IntroductionDecoding DirectivesPaper 1Paper 2International RelationsPaper 3Paper 4

STRATEGY FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The syllabus of International Relations (IR) in GS Paper II is given below:

India and its neighborhood- relations.

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
interests
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian
diaspora.
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.
Sources and resources:

Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor- Voluntary

India’s Foreign Policy: Coping with the Changing World by Muchkund Dubey
World Focus Magazine
The Hindu
Live Mint
Indian Express articles by C Rajamohan
IDSA
MEA Website
MEA Annual Report

Note– Do not panic about lots of sources. IASbaba will be covering them all Pax Indica and
Muchkund Dubey- Any one of them will suffice.

Introduction

IR is the most dynamic portion of the UPSC Mains syllabus. One needs to keep a tab on all the
recent developments happening around the world that directly or indirectly affect India. IR is also
one of the most analytical segments of the syllabus. A thorough understanding is required and thus
superficial knowledge is of no use as far as IR is concerned. Many candidates find it difficult to
manage IR because of its vast and contemporary nature for the simple fact that not only one must
be acquainted with history to make sense of the current developments but also be intelligent
enough to make projections for the future. Although candidates start preparing for IR with much
zeal and enthusiasm but all of that fizzles out soon for the reasons explained before. It is thus
important to have a clear understanding of some basic concepts related to the syllabus before we
lay out a detailed plan for the same. You have to equip yourself with the following static portion
before you start reading and appreciating current developments in the field of IR:

Basic philosophy and assumptions underlying IR

Evolution of India’s Foreign Policy
How the world has changed in the past few decades; impact of those changes
How India’s Foreign policy has responded to those changes
Role being played by India on a regional, global and institutional levels in the past
The best books for this purpose are India’s Foreign Policy: Coping with the Changing World by
Muchkund Dubey or Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor. Initial few chapters of both these books have
dealt with all the basic information that is required to expand your knowledge base with respect to
IR. You shall be able to better understand and appreciate India’s Foreign Policy (IFP) thereafter.
For example:

All our policies are aligned to primarily serve India’s national interests, secure India’s borders,
ensure military and non-military security and promote global peace.
We as a nation-state believe in certain cardinal principles which include non-alignment, nuclear
disarmament, multilateralism etc.
An understanding of aforesaid philosophies and principles would make you aware of the
underlying rationale behind India’s stance on various issues, fora, events and developments.

Moreover, you shall get acquainted with the following dimensions of IR which will broaden your
horizon further:

How changes in the past few decades for example end of Cold War, disintegration of USSR, end
of bipolarity, emergence of capitalism, nuclear arms race, evolution environmental regimes etc
have changed the world and also how India responded to them.
What sort of strategies India adopts