Archive - Atul Mishra's Substack

IR: the subject matters, and its subject matter

The rise of a discipline, implosion of American foreign policy, India's great power challenges deepest in decades, and what exactly is liberalism

Aug 6 •

July 2025

Crisis in West Asia; catastrophe in Gaza

Why countries should act on their conscience over Gaza; and a conversation on the aftermath of the bombings of Iran.

Jul 29 •

Using Kautilya's Arthashastra

What should we care about while applying this classic to modern Indian foreign policy, governance, and geopolitics?

Jul 9 •

New posts on partition & IR, and liberal democracy

Bringing partition to IR. And some ways of thinking about liberal democracy and India.

Jul 6 •

What is a liberal democracy?

And should it have a future? In India?

Jul 6 •

June 2025

An IR take on partition

Think of the 1947 partition of India not as a problem of history but as the event that set the pattern of South Asian international politics.

Jun 28 •

Another ceasefire in West Asia

Israel's endgame is in Palestine, for which it needs an Iran that is militarily weakened.

Jun 27 •

Some run away from theory, others find it dense and limited in its utility. But theory is unavoidable. And it can be fun.

Jun 27 •

Does theory matter for policy-making?

Yes, it does. And we don't have to turn to the United States for examples on how International Relations theory -- and theorists -- have shaped foreign…

Jun 21 •

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