SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore/Washington DC DOI: 10.1177/097152310801600102 THEORY FOR STRATEGY: EMERGING INDIA IN A CHANGING WORLD

The realist school of thought in international relations theory, under attack in the post-Cold War era for its numerous failings, has turned away from its focus on system structure to a refi ned version of its earlier form, which also focused on domestic factors and policy choice. But the neoclassical school neglects important systemic dynamics arising from variations in levels of economic and strategic interdependence. A refi ned neoclassical approach, by focusing on the relationship between degrees of interdependence and the role of structure, identifi es the scope for optimal policy choice in different settings. For India, a nation on the threshold of major power status, this provides an improved basis for interpreting the changing international system and fashioning an appropriate broad strategy toward it. An important function of international relations theory is (or should be) to assess the nature of the world so that policy makers may be able to devise appropriate foreign policy strategy. As a nation on the threshold of becoming a global power, India needs to have a clearly thought out conceptual framework that provides an understanding of the world in all its complexity as a guide to the making of policy. The need for clarity is particularly evident as India seeks to shape its approaches to the United States (US