Description of the south Asian region, political, geographic, economic and psychological factors; conflicts and crises, military balance, strategic balance and nuclear weapons capabilities in South Asia.

Foreign and defence policy making, conceptual framework, evolution of India.s foreign policy, development of India.s foreign policy. Evolution and development of India.s defence policy, contemporary Indian defence and foreign as well as strategic policy. Instruments of Indian foreign and defence polices, the military instrument, politico-economic instrument, diplomatic instrument, nuclear weapons capability.

Historical overview of big powers. interest and involvement in South Asia; the status of South Asia in world politics; various conceptualization of South Asia in world politics and big powers systemic approaches, sub system theory etc. the core countries and their relationship, big powers in the region; penetration, influence and intervention.

Defining the region, historical, geopolitical settings, strategic balance, crisis and conflicts, Palestine, Lebanon, Arab Israel wars, Intra Arab rivalries, oil diplomacy, interests and involvement of extra regional powers, problems and prospects of peace, new world order and west Asia.

Overview, Persian Gulf in world affairs, strategic dynamics of Persian Gulf, strategic balance, Islamic revolution, Iran Iraq war; Gulf War, Oil & politics, alliances and security, GCC etc.

Conceptual framework of defence and foreign policy making, internal and external determinants / compulsions on the policies, formulation of the policies, decision making process and elites, Higher Defence council, military in politics, Israeli and Arab models, US factor, evolution of foreign and defence policies, realignments, Gulf crisis and the security policies.

Big powers and their role, regional responses, patterns of hostility and alignments in the region, comparative policies of the big powers in West Asia.

Human struggle for peace from the individual to the global level, History of peace movements to counter militarism before 1914, internationalism nuclear debates, disarmament and discriminatory policies over the use of nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

Defining the extra regional powers, intra-regional conflicts and extra regional involvement, extra regional dynamics.

Defining the region, core countries, geographic, economic and political factors, military strategic capabilities; military strategic capabilities, foreign and defence policy orientations of central Asian states, their role ion CIS, linkage outside the region, economic, ideological, intra-regional conflicts/ crisis, case studies etc.

Definitional and conceptual issues, theories of regional and global integration. Rise of regionalism and its impact on North-South and South-South issues. Regionalism, globalization and the changing distribution of power in the international system. Rise of regional bodies such as the EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, SCO and other regional organizations. New forms of power, power shift, hegemonic stability, clash of civilizations and anarchy theories.

Defining the region; US and the Latin American states, Impact of Soviet Collapse and developments since then, strategic and nuclear dynamics of Latin America.

Strategic importance of Latin America, big powers and their role in the region, the internal dynamics of the states and various responses. Patterns of realignment, comparative policies of the Big powers in Latin America.

Political, geographic, economic and psychological interests of core countries of North Africa; Libya, Chad, Djibouti, Somalia etc. Military balance, conflict and crisis.

Core countries of Southern Africa, Southern Africa as a security complex, South Africa and the smaller states, security concerns. Ideology as a factor in security / wars, problems and prospects for conflict resolution in Southern Africa. Revival of the ANC, Mandela Factor.

Historical dynamics/ overview, importance of the region for the big powers, patterns of realignment, region in the post-cold war era.

Core countries of the region, importance of the region in the regional and global context, East Asia . Pacific region, inter-state dynamics, impact on world politics, Soviet Collapse, formation of ASEAN and ARF and their impact.

Big powers. interest and policies in the region, big power involvement . intervention .new imperialist. responses from within the region, conflicts re alignments etc.