Nicolas Blarel is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands. He studies foreign policy issues, with a focus on security issues in South Asia. His current research focuses on why rising powers choose to redefine their strategic objectives and means. Nicolas also studies India’s relations with the Middle-East and has a forthcoming book on The Evolution of India’s Israel Policy: Continuity, Change, and Compromise since 1922T at Oxford University Press. In addition, Nicolas published book chapters and articles on India’s nuclear policies, India’s relations with the U.S. India’s soft power potential, and India’s insurgent movements and state-making. Nicolas has worked for the French Foreign Ministry’s policy planning staff (the Centre d’Analyses et de Prévisions) on questions related to Afghanistan, South Asia, and nuclear proliferation. Nicolas has been a visiting fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi. He was also editorial assistant at the peer-reviewed academic journal, International Studies Quarterly. Before coming to Leiden, Nicolas studied at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Strasbourg, Sciences Po Paris, and Indiana University.
India has become Israel’s largest arms export market in the world over the last decade (replacing China); and Israel has become one of India’s largest arms supplier. Why did India develop a strong military partnership with a country it had ignored for 42 years? What can explain the development of defense ties in spite of limited political leadership involvement over the past decade? Finally, what are the prospects for defense relations as India grows to become one of the world’s largest defense importer? This essay answers these questions by providing an account of the evolution of Indo-Israeli defense cooperation over the past 25 years.
