Publication update! Chapter on R&AW
A book chapter I co-authored on the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) - India's external intelligence agency - was recently published by Oxford University Press.
A book chapter I co-authored with Rudra Chaudhuri, on India’s external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), was recently published in a volume on India’s various security institutions edited by Milan Vaishnav.
The volume was published by Oxford University Press, and has chapters on India’s armed forces including the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, along with two chapters on intelligence (one on the R&AW co-authored by yours truly, and other on the Intelligence Bureau), India’s internal security organizations, and the police forces.
I have a short thread on Twitter on the book chapter that has a few details on the chapter. In short, we look at the R&AW’s history, organizational aspects, and suggest five measures the agency can take to improve its functioning.
Anyone familiar with the news cycle on India at the moment will be aware of the barrage of media reports and allegations directed at the R&AW (see Fig. 3)
However, as we note in the chapter, intelligence is a tricky business, and "intelligence failures are more easily recounted than successes" & in most cases, intel successes remain unknown to the general public. In the age of OSINT & greater intel revelations, there is a need for greater transparency. We are acutely aware of the fact that “a balance needs to be struck between maintaining secrecy and providing a necessary degree of oversight.”
If you’d like to know more about the secretive R&AW - it has no constitutional status in India as it was created through an executive order issued by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in September 1968 - I’d urge you to grab a copy of the book & share details about this volume with those who you think might be interested in it!