Political scientist Rajesh Basrur is the latest to contribute

 Political scientist Rajesh Basrur is the latest to contribute to this emergent genre with his book Subcontinental Drift: Domestic Politics and India’s Foreign Policy. Basrur’s analysis follows neoclassical realism, which incorporates domestic factors to explain states’ foreign and security policies—unlike structural realism, which overlooks internal characteristics to focus on the distribution of power. Neoclassical realists contend that factors such as the efficacy of a state’s institutions shape its responses to external threats or impending shifts in the balance of power.

Using this lens, Basrur argues that despite India’s long-standing goal to attain great-power status, its ambitions have so far been hobbled by so-called policy drift, in which factors such as political polarization impede the purposeful pursuit of policy. His approach is novel because it highlights how endemic features of India’s political system have gotten in the way of its decision-making; a single-minded focus on India’s external

 environment doesn’t adequately explain its choices. Basrur’s decision to fold his argument into neoclassical realism advances understanding of New Delhi’s foreign policy. He makes clear that unless India’s political leaders can harness domestic forces toward their aspirations to play a more significant role in Asia and beyond, they will remain hamstrung.