PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Key Concepts in International Relations
Discuss the utility of Nuclear Deterrence Theory in the context of the recent standoff between India and Pakistan.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
– = R1 deterrence’s core logic: catastrophic retaliation / MAD deters attack → Brodie’s dictum → applied to India-Pakistan dyad * R2 India’s NFU + credible minimum deterrence vs Pakistan's TNW → grounded back in MAD logic
Body flow
MAD logic → Brodie “ready, never used” → India’s NFU/CMD vs Pakistan’s TNW (offsets conventional asymmetry) → held since 1998 → 2019 Pulwama-Balakot: escalation but restraint → Schelling’s stability-instability paradox → non-state actors evade the nuclear threshold
Counter-view
Manoj Joshi: deterrence alone insufficient → strategic stability still needs conventional capability + diplomacy
Conclusion routes
es R1 deterrence secures against full-scale war, not full peace ° R2 balance of terror real but bounded → conventional strength and diplomacy fill the rest
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
