Book Review: The absent dialogue: Politicians, bureaucrats, and the military in India, by Anit Mukherjee

• Author: Ayesha Ray
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211034550
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Book Review

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(4) 1003 –1005

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Book Review

Book Review

Reviewed by: Ayesha Ray,Political Science, King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211034550

In a richly detailed book that brings a much-needed and fresh perspective to the subject

of Indian civil–military relations, Anit Mukherjee’sThe Absent Dialogue makes a vital

contribution in explaining the inherently dysfunctional nature of Indian civil–military

relations. At the root of this dysfunction is what the author refers to as “the absent

dialogue”which gives rise to conditions ultimately detrimental to military effec-

tiveness. Mukherjee argues that patterns of democratic civil–military relations are

shaped by three factors—significant military autonomy, a lack of civilian expertise, and

strong bureaucratic control. Fundamental to the last is institutional design, the Ministry

of Defense’s (MoD) interaction with the three services. In addition, Mukherjee ex-

amines five variables associated with military effectiveness—weapons procurement,

jointness, professional military education (PME), officer promotion policies, and

defense planning. In making the central argument of the book, the author draws on

theoretical insights from Samuel Huntington and Eliot Cohen.

Chapter 2 examines the role of five war-time commanders and the, often, tumultuous

relationship they shared with India’s political leaders whose approach to the military

was driven by domestic imperatives and individual personality styles that often be-

trayed a lack of communication. This issue was especially visible during Nehru’s time,

and was handled better under Indira Gandhi, but accelerated again during the Vajpayee

years. Chapter 3 examines the weapons procurement process in detail and observes

how a combination of military autonomy and absence of civilian expertise with an

excessive reliance on self-sufficiency has stunted India’s defense procurement process.

Chapter 4 focuses on jointness as a measure of military effectiveness. Here, Mukherjee

argues that absence of civilian intervention has only intensified inter-service rivalries.

The chapter offers a rich description of jointness in India’s external wars with Pakistan

Anit Mukherjee. (2019). The absent dialogue: Politicians, bureaucrats, and the military in India.

Oxford University Press. 366 pp. $65.00 (hardcover).