From Kautilya to Nondualist Global IR: Beyond Binary Thinking in India’s Foreign Relations

Der englischsprachige Vortrag findet am Dienstag, den 7. Juli 2026, um 18:15 Uhr in Hörsaal II im Universitätsgebäude am Wittelsbacherplatz 1 statt. Alle Interessierten sind herzlich eingeladen!

Der Vortrag erfolgt im Rahmen des Seminars „Indien in den internationalen Beziehungen“ von Dr. Philipp Gieg und ist eine Kooperationsveranstaltung des Indien-Forums am Institut für Politikwissenschaft und Soziologie und des Indien-Kompetenzzentrums der Universität Würzburg (ICCUW).

Poster
 

Worum geht es?

This lecture explores how India’s foreign relations can be understood beyond the binary frameworks that dominate much of International Relations (IR) theory. It does so by situating the analysis within the evolution of Global IR, which can be understood through three broad generations.

The first generation, often described as non-Western IR, expands the discipline by including non-Western ideas and thinkers such as Kautilya, largely within existing theoretical frameworks such as Realism. The second generation, associated with postcolonial and decolonial approaches, seeks to juxtapose alternative knowledge traditions of the West and the non-West, yet retains their analytical separation.

The lecture then introduces a third generation – nondualist Global IR – which moves beyond both inclusion and juxtaposition by reconceptualizing global politics as a non-separable field in which difference and interconnectedness co-exist. It shows how India’s relations with major powers, particularly in the context of India-China-US interactions, cannot be fully understood in terms of fixed alliances, rivalries, or enmities, but are better seen as dynamically interconnected processes combining cooperation and competition.

By presenting India’s foreign relations through this progression – from inclusion, to juxtaposition, to nondualist reconstruction – the lecture highlights how post-binary approaches can offer clearer and more flexible ways of understanding contemporary global politics.