Ian Hall | Griffith University (original) (raw)

Authored Books by Ian Hall

Narendra Modi’s energetic personal diplomacy and promise to make India a ‘leading power’, made so... more Narendra Modi’s energetic personal diplomacy and promise to make India a ‘leading power’, made soon after his landslide election victory in May 2014, surprised many analysts. Most had predicted that his government would concentrate on domestic issues, on the growth and development demanded by Indian voters, and that he lacked necessary experience in international relations. Instead, Modi’s time in office saw a concerted attempt to reinvent Indian foreign policy by replacing inherited understandings of its place in the world with one drawn largely from Hindu nationalist ideology. This book explores the drivers of this reinvention, arguing it arose from a combination of elite conviction and electoral calculation, and the impact it had on India’s international relations under Modi.

In just three decades, Great Britain’s place in world politics was transformed. In 1945, it was t... more In just three decades, Great Britain’s place in world politics was transformed. In 1945, it was the world’s preeminent imperial power with global interests. By 1975, Britain languished in political stasis and economic recession, clinging to its alliance with the United States and membership in the European Community. Amid this turmoil, British intellectuals struggled to make sense of their country’s decline and the transformed world in which they found themselves. This book assesses their responses to this predicament and explores the different ways British thinkers came to understand the new international relations of the postwar period.

Martin Wight (1913-1972) was one of the most original and enigmatic international thinkers of the... more Martin Wight (1913-1972) was one of the most original and enigmatic international thinkers of the twentieth century. He was the author of a number of seminal essays, including 'Why is there no International Theory?' (1960) and 'Western Values in International Relations' (1966). His international thought inspired a generation of students at the London School of Economics and continues to animate the so-called 'English school' of international relations. This new study, drawing upon his published writings and unpublished papers, examines his work on international relations in the light of his wider thought, his religious beliefs, and his understanding of history.

Edited Books by Ian Hall

This book advances a holistic conceptualisation of maritime security, under the term ‘Blue Securi... more This book advances a holistic conceptualisation of maritime security, under the term ‘Blue Security’, and situates it in states across the Indo-Pacific.

The Indo-Pacific encompasses a vast space, incorporating two of the planet’s biggest oceans, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, as well as littoral and hinterland states home to half the world’s population. Security challenges abound across the maritime Indo-Pacific, ranging from the risk of inter-state war at sea to so-called blue crimes, like piracy, smuggling, and illegal fishing. Climate change and marine pollution, as well as the over-exploitation of scarce and sometimes fragile resources, also pose threats to human security, sustainability, and biodiversity. Using the concept of ‘Blue Security’, this book assesses these various challenges and analyses the approaches to their management used by Indo-Pacific states. It argues that we should embrace a holistic understanding of maritime security, incorporating national, regional, international, human, and environmental dimensions. To that end, it explores the Blue Security strategies of 18 Indo-Pacific states, examining their changing perceptions of threat, their approaches to managing those challenges, and their capabilities. The volume makes an innovative contribution to our knowledge of a region crucial to global security and prosperity.

This book will be of interest to students of maritime strategy, security studies, Asian politics and International Relations.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Over the past twenty years, the history of international thought has emerged as a major subfield ... more Over the past twenty years, the history of international thought has emerged as a major subfield of International Relations (IR). But it has tended to concentrate its attentions on American and – to a lesser extent – British theorists and traditions, with the occasion foray onto the European continent to explore the contributions of Raymond Aron or Carl Schmitt. This book aims to break new ground in the history of international thought, broadening its focus from Anglo-American realism and liberalism to new thinkers, new topics, and new places. It does so in two ways. First, it argues that more needs to be done to explore radical and reactionary theories beyond the realist and liberal mainstream, to examine the paths not taken as well as paths, like those followed by continental European and Japanese fascists in the mid-twentieth century, that led to disastrous foreign policies. Second, and just as importantly, it argues that the field needs to follow the lead given by comparative political theorists, who have made significant contributions to our understanding of the history of political thought by beginning to explore non-Anglospheric theories and traditions.

India’s rise has changed the nature of its relationships with other major players in the Asia-Pac... more India’s rise has changed the nature of its relationships with other major players in the Asia-Pacific region. In response, regional states and great powers have moved to “engage” India. But what does “engagement” involve? And which “engagement strategies” – diplomatic, military, economic or public – have worked and which have not? Finally, what do the “engagement of India” tell us about India’s place in world politics and the best means by which it and others can manage its rise?

This book explores the various engagement strategies employed by key international actors, including those used by United States, Japan, Russia and China, as well as the responses these strategies have prompted from India in both its foreign and domestic policies. It draws upon a growing body of theoretical literature that explores the nature and utility of engagement in international relations, and employs it to make better sense of India’s rise, its causes and its consequences.

"This edited collection explores the fruitfulness of applying an interpretive approach to the stu... more "This edited collection explores the fruitfulness of applying an interpretive approach to the study of global security. The interpretive approach concentrates on unpacking the meanings and beliefs of various policy actors, and, crucially, explains those beliefs by locating them in historical traditions and as responses to dilemmas. Interpretivists thereby seek to highlight the contingency, diversity, and contestability of the narratives, expertise, and beliefs that inform political action. The interpretive approach is widespread in the study of governance and public policy, but arguably it has not yet had much impact on security studies. The book therefore deploys the interpretive approach to explore contemporary issues in international security, combining theoretical engagement with good empirical coverage through a novel set of case studies.

Bringing together a fresh mix of world renowned and up-and-coming scholars from across the fields of security studies, political theory and international relations, the chapters explore the beliefs, traditions, and dilemmas that have informed security practice on the one hand, and the academic study of security on the other, as well as the connections between them. All contributors look to situate their work against a broader historical background and long-standing traditions, allowing them to take a critical yet historically informed approach to the material.
"

In the modern era, British thinkers have made significant - indeed perhaps even disproportionate ... more In the modern era, British thinkers have made significant - indeed perhaps even disproportionate - contributions to our understanding of the workings of international relations. This book brings together eleven original essays by an inter-disciplinary team of historians, political theorists and international relations specialists that reconsider some of those contributions and their legacies. It aims to provide new insights into the work of thinkers from Thomas Hobbes and Edmund Burke to Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson and Lewis Namier as well as to advance the study of the history of international thought.

Journal Articles by Ian Hall

The Review of Faith and International Affairs, 2024

India is investing more in religious diplomacy, arguing that the world might learn lessons from t... more India is investing more in religious diplomacy, arguing that the world might learn lessons from that country’s extraordinary repository of philosophical and spiritual traditions. This diplomacy has an increasingly Hindu character, reflecting the present government’s conviction that India is essentially a Hindu civilization. This article examines the drivers of India’s contemporary religious diplomacy, its target audiences, its practitioners within and outside the government, and its likely influence. It argues that India’s religious diplomacy is unusual in terms of its target audiences and the message aimed at each of them, and in terms of its messengers, which include several Hindu nationalist social movements and elements of the Indian diaspora. It argues too that the impact of these efforts remains unclear.

Asia Maior, 2024

India had a busy and increasingly tumultuous year in foreign policy. New Delhi played host to bot... more India had a busy and increasingly tumultuous year in foreign policy. New Delhi played host to both the Group of 20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, providing opportunities to shape agendas in multiple areas of global governance and international security. It used both presidencies to showcase the achievements of the Modi government, to demonstrate India’s «convening power», and, at times, to frustrate others, especially China. But, during 2023, India also attracted global attention for other reasons. In the middle of year, the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada led some to conclude that New Delhi was running a covert programme of targeted assassinations. That incident led to a major diplomatic dispute with Ottawa and was followed by evidence, uncovered by United States authorities, of an unsuc- cessful plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist. These events cast a shadow over India’s strategic partnership with Washington. Towards the end of year, the outbreak of violence in Gaza brought the Modi government’s Middle East policy – especially the strong relationship forged with Israel – under greater scrutiny. Both could prefig- ure strategic setbacks for India, this article argues.

The RUSI Journal, 2023

Australian and British strategic interests diverged after the early 1970s. As London’s horizons n... more Australian and British strategic interests diverged after the early 1970s. As London’s horizons narrowed, Canberra held tight to Australia’s alliance with the US and looked to emerging Asia for economic opportunities. Recently, however, Australian and UK strategic interests have reconverged, as concern
grows in both countries about China’s growing assertiveness. The AUKUS arrangement is the clearest signal of this shift, but, as Ian Hall argues, the substance of Australia–UK strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is yet to be determined and several challenges loom.

The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 2022

India's leaders have pursued a series of ambitious agendas in international relations, driven by ... more India's leaders have pursued a series of ambitious agendas in international relations, driven by a sense of national destiny and civilisational mission. This article explores these different agendas and the strategies they shaped, noting the underlying convictions that unite them: that India's civilisational inheritance has lessons for the world, that India's status is yet to be properly respected, and that New Delhi must strive for the highest levels of autonomy India can attain in international affairs. It argues, however, that their pursuit has been confounded by domestic challenges, which inhibit India's capacity to accumulate power and exert influence.

Journal of Indian and Asian Studies, 2021

Since the election of Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in May 2014, In... more Since the election of Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in May 2014, India's approach to East Asia has changed, principally in response to pressures exerted by China. The Modi government inherited an East Asia strategy that combined a push for greater diplomatic and economic linkages with the region, an effort to improve Sino-Indian relations through a mix of engagement and deterrence, and a strengthening of security ties with the United States (US) and its allies. During its first three years in office, this paper argues that the Modi government stuck with this approach but attempted to pursue it more energetically as well as to assert India's interests more clearly and forcefully in interactions with Beijing. After the Doklam standoff in 2017, however, India was pushed to assume a more clearly competitive stance, despite concerns about the reliability of Donald J. Trump's new administration in Washington, China's growing belligerence towards India and the rest of the region, and the impact of COVID-19. This stance entails both internal and external balancing, and a push for greater economic self-reliance that implies some decoupling from China, but which also has implications for India's relations with other countries in East Asia.

International Politics, 2021

Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia in November 2014 was the first for an Indian Prime Minister in... more Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia in November 2014 was the first for an Indian Prime Minister in almost three decades and promised much. Modi declared that Australia was no longer on the ‘periphery’ of New Delhi’s ‘vision’, ‘but at the centre of our thoughts’. He pledged to work with Canberra at the G20 and regional multilateral forums, deepen the bilateral security partnership, and conclude a free trade deal. These promises were only partly realised. Progress was made in defence and
security cooperation, within and outside the Quad, but a free trade deal proved too hard. Canberra struggled to maintain momentum in improving ties because of leadership challenges in Australian government and New Delhi’s preference for protectionism. This article examines these dynamics, looking back at the drivers of the strategic partnership, as well as at the challenges encountered in the Modi era.

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 2021

Despite its longstanding rhetorical support for an international criminal justice regime, India c... more Despite its longstanding rhetorical support for an international criminal justice regime, India continues to resist signing the 1998 Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court. This article explores the reasons for this reluctance. It observes that during the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute, India voiced multiple objections to the design of the ICC, to the manner in which was to function, and to the crimes that it was to address. It argues that analyzing the negotiating strategy India employed during those talks allows us to discern which reasons mattered more to New Delhi and what accounts for its ongoing refusal to sign the Rome Statute.

Security Challenges, 2020

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2020

Third World Quarterly, 2020

Official figures claim that almost 3000 people were killed, and many more injured or displaced, i... more Official figures claim that almost 3000 people were killed, and many more injured or displaced, in four days of rioting aimed at the Sikh pop- ulation of Delhi in late October and early November 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This article analyses the efforts made to address the human rights violations that occurred. It argues that as a divided democracy, India has struggled to do justice to the victims, despite multiple commissions of inquiry, compensation schemes and a prime ministerial apology. It argues that this has occurred not simply because of challenges commonly faced by democracies dealing with similar incidents, but also because of the particular problems faced in a context in which we see continuity of rule by a political elite allegedly implicated in the abuse and in which there is acute concern for the survival of a fragile divided polity.

Journal of International Political Theory, 2020

This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘Interpretivism and the English School of Internatio... more This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘Interpretivism and the English School of International Relations’. It distinguishes between what we term the interpretivist and structuralist wings of the school and argues that disagreement about its preferred approach to the study of international relations has generated confusion about what it stands for and weakened its capacity to respond to alternative approaches. It puts the case for a reconsideration of the underlying philosophical positions that the school wishes to affirm and suggests that a properly grounded interpretivism may serve it best. The final part of the article discusses the topics and arguments of the remaining pieces in the Special Issue.

Journal of International Political Theory, 2020

This book will be of interest to students of maritime strategy, security studies, Asian politics and International Relations.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

The Review of Faith and International Affairs, 2024

Asia Maior, 2024

The RUSI Journal, 2023

The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 2022

Journal of Indian and Asian Studies, 2021

International Politics, 2021

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 2021

Security Challenges, 2020

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2020

Third World Quarterly, 2020

Journal of International Political Theory, 2020

The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs , 2019

In 2014, Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory on a platform... more In 2014, Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory on a platform that promised rapid economic development, jobs, and prosperity. 'Good days' (acche din) were coming, they pledged, and they would deliver them. After five years of lacklustre growth, however, Modi and the BJP approached the 2019 general election in very different terms. Following a terrorist attack in Kashmir and retaliatory air strikes on camps in Pakistani-controlled territory, Modi and his allies restyled themselves as a chowkidars ('watchmen'), insisting that they were best placed to keep India safe and secure. This article analyses that shift, arguing that far from simply opportunistic, it represented the culmination of a broader push, dating back to 2014, to use foreign and security policy to bolster Modi's image and consolidate the BJP's electoral dominance.

Narendra Modi has devoted an unusual amount of time and energy, for an Indian leader, to religiou... more Narendra Modi has devoted an unusual amount of time and energy, for an Indian leader, to religious diplomacy. It is arguably one of the few innovations that he has made in the conduct of Indian foreign policy. He has visited a series of significant religious sites, engaged in dialogues between religious communities and made a series of appeals to religious arguments, in various diplomatic contexts. This article argues that Modi's religious diplomacy aims to boost India's public diplomacy and soft power, to promote India as a destination for tourists interested in its Buddhist heritage and sites, and an attempt to engage with India's diaspora communities. But it also observes that Modi's religious diplomacy is underpinned by his personal beliefs and his idea of the image that he wants to project of his leadership and what he thinks ought to be India's place in the world to domestic and foreign audiences.

Rising Powers Quarterly, 2017

India is commonly – and rightly – considered a reluctant democracy promoter. But while sceptical ... more India is commonly – and rightly – considered a reluctant democracy promoter. But while sceptical about the motives behind Western attempts to promote democracy and about the effects of their democracy promotion efforts, India has since the mid-2000s moved warily to involve itself in " democracy assistance ". This article argues that New Delhi has engaged in these activities in the context of a wider shift in strategy, in parallel with the forging of a strategic partnership with the United States and with growing concern about managing China's influence in South Asia. It observes that India's foreign policy elite still has considerable doubts about democracy promotion, both in terms of its inconsistency with basic international norms, especially state sovereignty, non-interference, and non-intervention, and in terms of its patchy recent record of success. It argues that India's approach to democracy assistance, which involves a blend of multilateral and bilateral initiatives , most aimed at South Asia, and most in parallel with better-funded economic development projects, reflects these various pressures and concerns.

International Relations, 2017

Over the past two decades, historians of international thought have markedly improved our underst... more Over the past two decades, historians of international thought have markedly improved our understanding of the disciplinary history of International Relations and its wider intellectual history. During that period, 'contextualism' has become a leading approach in the field, as it has been for half a century in the history of political thought. This article argues that while the application of contextualism in IR has improved our understanding of its disciplinary history, its assumptions about the proper relationship between historians and theorists threaten to marginalise the history of international thought within IR. It argues that unless the inherent weaknesses in contextualism are recognised, the progress made in the field will go unrecognised by a discipline that sees little reason to engage with its history. It suggests that historians of international thought adopt an extensively modified version of contextualism that would allow them to rebuild bridges back into IR, especially IR theory.

This article analyses Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos by H... more This article analyses Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos by Hardeep Singh Puri, a retired senior diplomat and India's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. It outlines the structure and argument of the book, which addresses foreign interventions in various conflicts over the past three decades, including those in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, and Sri Lanka, and the emergence of the concept of Responsibility to Protect. It argues that Perilous Interventions is a significant, if problematic, book insofar as it signals that deep scepticism about r2p persists in important sections of the policymaking elite in New Delhi, despite India's rising power, growing capabilities, and changing relationships with major powers, including the United States. It also introduces the remaining three articles in this special section.

Periodically, India has sought to act as a ‘normative power’ in international affairs, advancing ... more Periodically, India has sought to act as a ‘normative power’ in international affairs, advancing a normative agenda about how states and other actors ought to behave, what norms and rules should regulate their interactions, and what institutions should exist to make and enforce them. The rise to power of Narendra Modi, who became India’s Prime Minister in May 2014, with a declared aspiration to once more make India a vishwaguru (‘world guru’) and a ‘leading power’, has generated debate about whether India will again become a normative power. This article analyses the intellectual resources with which Modi might construct that new normative agenda. These resources include the work of a number of key Hindu nationalist thinkers with which Modi is well acquainted, but also the thought of Swami Vivekananda, for whom Modi claims a special devotion. The article concludes that constructing a new normative agenda for a revived ‘normative power India’ will be difficult, given the limited usefulness of these intellectual resources, and that Modi’s government will likely continue to pursue an essentially pragmatic foreign policy designed above all to further India’s domestic economic development.

The 2016 Defence White Paper suggests that a realistic appraisal of India’s intentions, capabilit... more The 2016 Defence White Paper suggests that a realistic appraisal of India’s intentions, capabilities, and capacity for strategic partnership has emerged in Canberra. This article analyses this White Paper’s treatment of India in the light of those found in its predecessors. It argues that while Australia’s defence planners have in the past neglected India and then over- emphasised its potential, the 2016 White Paper presents a more sober view of a maturing partnership, albeit one that gives little away about how it might evolve in coming years.

This article examines India’s emerging approach to foreign policy: multialignment. It argues that... more This article examines India’s emerging approach to foreign policy: multialignment. It argues that since the mid-2000s India has developed multialignment as a means of achieving what it perceives as its core interests and ideals in international relations. Characterised by an emphasis on engagement in regional multilateral institutions, the use of strategic partnerships, and what is termed ‘normative hedging’, multialignment is being utilised to boost India’s economic development and national security, as well as to project influence and promote its values. The article traces the emergence of this strategy during the governments of Manmohan Singh and its implementation and extension by the new government of Narendra Modi. It analyses the key arguments that have been presented in its favour and the ways in which it was been put into practice. It concludes with a brief assessment of multialignment as a strategy, as well as the prospect that it will deliver the dividends expected by India’s foreign policy elite.

Historiographical Investigations in International Relations

New Directions in Indian Foreign Policy: Theory and Praxis, 2019

US-China Competition and the South China Sea Dispute

Strategic Asia 2016-17: Comparing Strategic Cultures in the Asia-Pacific, 2016

System, Society and the World: Exploring the English School, 2015

A vision of “normative power India” – a “righteous Republic” influencing the rules of internation... more A vision of “normative power India” – a “righteous Republic” influencing the rules of international order not by the use of economic or military means, but by principled moral and political argument – was central to postcolonial India’s understanding of its self and its role in the world (Vajpeyi 2012). Its first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, envisaged an India “great among nations, foremost in the arts of peace and progress,” and designed the original version of “nonalignment” in pursuit of that goal (Nehru 1961a: 3; Nehru 1961b: 29). With that policy, Nehru helped to shape the post-war evolution of international society, working – not wholly successfully – to delegitimize and dismantle the European empires in Asia and Africa, limit the testing of nuclear weapons, and inculcate principles of “peaceful coexistence” among the new states that emerged from decolonization. But after the Sino-Indian war in 1962 and Nehru’s death two years later, India turned away from that vision and sought instead to focus on domestic development and pursuing its interests by more traditional diplomatic and military means, attempting only periodically to influence the normative order of international society.

The Engagement of India: Strategies and Responses

The Engagement of India: Strategies and Responses, 2014

Australian Foreign Policy: The Key Debates, 2014

Interpreting Global Security, 2014

The Sage Handbook of Governance, 2011

British International Thinkers from Hobbes to Namier, 2009

This brief explores the work of the Bengali diplomat and academic Jayantanuja Bandyopadhyaya, who... more This brief explores the work of the Bengali diplomat and academic Jayantanuja Bandyopadhyaya, whose book, The Making of Indian Foreign Policy (1970) is considered a classic in Indian scholarship in International Relations. It analyses Bandyopadhyaya's distinctive contribution to IR theory, especially his attempt to craft a " hybrid " approach derived from Gandhi and Mao, on the one hand, and behavouralist systems theories, on the other. It outlines the evolution of his thinking and the connections with his broader concerns with postcolonial nation-building. The brief argues that whatever the merits of this attempt to explain the structural underpinnings of the postcolonial international order and to advance a new normative agenda, Bandyopadhyaya's work pushes us to reconsider the widespread assumption that Indian IR is resistant to theory and theorising.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energetic conduct of India's foreign policy has attracted much pub... more Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energetic conduct of India's foreign policy has attracted much public and academic attention. Yet his desire to see India become what he calls a vishwa guru — which loosely translates as 'world guru' — has received relatively little attention.

East Asia Forum, Jun 15, 2016

The 'long nineteenth century' (1776–1914) was a period of political, economic, military a... more The 'long nineteenth century' (1776–1914) was a period of political, economic, military and cultural revolutions that re-forged both domestic and international societies. Neither existing international histories nor international relations texts sufficiently register the scale and impact of this 'global transformation', yet it is the consequences of these multiple revolutions that provide the material and ideational foundations of modern international relations. Global modernity reconstituted the mode of power that underpinned international order and opened a power gap between those who harnessed the revolutions of modernity and those who were denied access to them. This gap dominated international relations for two centuries and is only now being closed. By taking the global transformation as the starting point for international relations, this book repositions the roots of the discipline and establishes a new way of both understanding and teaching the relationship ...

Review of International Studies, 2002

Sir Herbert Butterfield, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1955–68), Regius Professor of History (... more Sir Herbert Butterfield, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1955–68), Regius Professor of History (1963–68), and author of The Whig Interpretation of History (1931), was one of the leading historians of the twentieth century. A diplomatic historian and student of modern historiography, Butterfield was deeply concerned too with contemporary international relations, wrote much on the subject and, in 1958, created the ‘British Committee on the Theory of International Politics’. Drawing upon published and unpublished material, this article seeks to sketch an outline of Butterfield's career and thought, to examine his approach to international relations, and to reconsider his reputation in the field.

International Affairs, 2010

Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 2013

The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, Sep 19, 2012

Nowhere are the changes in the practice of foreign policy more obvious than in Europe. The remova... more Nowhere are the changes in the practice of foreign policy more obvious than in Europe. The removal of the threat of force from European international relations has transformed diplomacy proper into 'politics'(Keens-Soper 1999). But the manner in which matters are dealt with is also significant. While high-level issues such as defence and international security largely remain the preserve of leaders and ministers and are settled in forums that more resemble multilateral summits than parliaments, most lower-level issues are ...