Anit Mukherjee is Deputy Head of Graduate Studies, and an Associate Professor in the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He is the author of The Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Military in India (NY: Oxford University Press, 2019). He joined RSIS after a post doctorate at the Centre for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. From 2010-2012, he was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. While in the doctoral program, he worked at the Brookings Institution and was a Summer Associate at RAND Corporation. He is also the co-editor (with Rajesh Basrur and TV Paul) of India-China Maritime Competition: The Security Dilemma at Sea (Routledge, 2019) and (with C. Raja Mohan) of India’s Naval Strategy and Asian Security (Routledge, 2015). He has published in Armed Forces & Society, Asian Security, Asia Policy, New York Times, The Caravan, and Indian Express, among others. His article titled “Fighting Separately: Jointness and Civil-Military Relations in India” was awarded the 2017 Amos Perlmutter prize by The Journal of Strategic Studies. He is also Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania and a Non-Resident Fellow at Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). Formerly, he was a Major in the Indian Army and is an alumnus of India’s National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla.

Asst Prof Mukherjee won the RSIS Teaching Award for Academic Year 2017/2018.

• Civil-military Relations
• Defence Reforms, Counterinsurgency and India’s Foreign and Defence Policies
• South Asia Security

• Non-resident Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress – CSEP (formerly Brookings India)
• Editorial Board, Journal of Defence Studies

Policy Reports

• India as a Net Security Provider: Concept and Impediments

  01 August, 2014

Commentaries

• CO17125 | Trump & Modi: Seeking a Global Partnership?

  23 June, 2017

• CO16131 | India’s Act East Policy: Embedding the Andamans

  31 May, 2016

Authored Books

• The Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats, and the Military in India. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019

Journal Articles

• “The fulcrum of democratic civilian control: Re-imagining the role of defence ministries” (with David Pion-Berlin) in Journal of Strategic Studies, 2022
• “Towards control and effectiveness: The Ministry of Defence and civil-military relations in India” in Journal of Strategic Studies, 2022
• ““The State of the Indian Military: Historical Role and Contemporary Challenges” in The Roundtable: Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs” in Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 111, Issue. 3, 2022
• ““Every Death Matters?”: Combat Casualties, Role Conception, and Civilian Control” in European Journal of International Security, 2021, pp. 1–18
• “Sailing Together or Ships Passing in the Night? India and the United States in Southeast Asia” (with Walter C. Ladwig III) in Asia Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2019. pp. 51-76
• “From Denial to Punishment: The Security Dilemma and Changes in India’s Military Strategy Towards China” (with Yogesh Joshi) in Asian Security, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2018. pp. 25-43
• Anit Mukherjee. "Educating the Professional Military: Civil–Military Relations and Professional Military Education in India," Armed Forces and Society, XX(X) (2017): 1-22.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Fighting Separately: Jointness and Civil-Military Relations in India,” Journal of Strategic Studies (2016).
• Mukherjee, Anit, George Perkovich, and Gaurav Kampani. "Correspondence: Secrecy, Civil-Military Relations, and India’s Nuclear Weapons Program.” International Security 39:3 (Winter 2014/2015)
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Cleaning the Augean Stables.” Seminar, 658( June 2014).
•   Mukherjee, Anit. “A Name upon a Grave.” The Caravan, February 2014.
• Mukherjee, Anit. , and Manohar Thyagraj, “Competing Exceptionalisms: US India Defence Relationship.” Journal of Defense Studies 6: 2 (April 2012).
• Mukherjee, Anit. “K. Subrahmanyam and Indian Strategic Thought.” Strategic Analysis 35: 4 (2011).
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Facing Future Challenges: Defense reforms in India.” RUSI Journal 156:5 (October 2011).
• Mukherjee, Anit. “India’s Pakistan Strategy: Back to the Future or Brand New Day?.” India Review 8: 4 (2009).
• Mukherjee, Anit. “The Absent Dialogue.” Seminar 599 ( July 2009).
• Mukherjee, Anit. “A Media Strategy for the Army.” Army War College Journal (March 2003).

Edited Books / Special Issues

• India-China Maritime Competition: The Security Dilemma at Sea (with Rajesh Basrur, and T. V. Paul), Eds. Abingdon & New York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 2019
• India’s Naval Strategy and Asian Security (with C. Raja Mohan), Eds. : Routledge, 2016
• The Merlion and the Ashoka: Singapore–India Strategic Ties. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2015

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Offensive defense: India’s strategic responses to the rise of China” (with Yogesh Joshi) in Kanti Bajpai, Selina Ho, Manjari Chatterjee Miller, Routledge Handbook of China–India Relations. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2020, pp. 227-239
• Mukherjee, Anit, “Defence Reforms: The Vajpayee Years,” in Gurmeet Kanwal and Neha Kohli (eds.), Defence Reforms: A National Imperative (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, Pentagon Press, 2018), pp. 66-74.
• Mukherjee, Anit, “In Need of a Crisis? India’s Higher Defence Organisation at 75,” in Defence Primer: India at 75, edited by Sushant Singh & Pushan Das, Observer Research Foundation, 2016.
• Mukherjee, Anit. "At the Crossroads: India and the Future of UN Peacekeeping In Africa." In India And Africa: Forging A Strategic Partnership, edited by Subir Gokarn, WPS Sidhu, and Shruti Godbole, 38-40. New Delhi: Brookings India, 2015.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Civil-Military Relations and Military Effectiveness in India.” in India’s Military Modernization: Challenges and Prospects, edited by Rajesh Basrur, Ajaya Das and Manjeet Pardesi . New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Failing to Deliver: Post-Crises Defence Reforms in India, 1998-2010.” in India’s National Security: A Reader , edited by Kanti Bajpai and Harsh Pant. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “India’s experience with insurgency and counterinsurgency.” in The Routledge Handbook of Asian Security Studies, edited by Sumit Ganguly, Joseph Liow and Andrew Scobell. London: Routledge, 2010.

Working Papers

• Phillips, Mark, and Anit Mukherjee. “British and Indian Perspectives on the Higher Management of Defence: Shared Experiences and Key Enablers of Reforms.” RUSI Occasional Paper, July 2012.
• Mukherjee, Anit, ed. “Call for Change: Higher Defence Organization in India.” IDSA Monograph Series No. 6. New Delhi: institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, July 2012.

Op-Eds

• “In Defence, The Twin Transformations”, Hindustan Times, 21 November 2021
• “India’s Civilian Leadership Must Step Up”, Hindustan Times, 5 July 2021
• “The Great Churning: Modi’s Transformation of the Indian Military”, War on the Rocks, 5 May 2021
• “Galwan border clash a nightmare come true for India and China”, South China Morning Post, 24 June 2020
• “Three pitfalls of CDS, Dept of Military Affairs and why it should make us sceptical”, The Print, 6 March 2020
• “What should India’s joint command structure look like”, The Hindu, 28 February 2020
• ““CDS a positive development… next logical progression would be towards creating joint theatre commands””, Times of India, 8 January 2020
• “Creating a new framework of civil-military relations”, Hindustan Times, 5 December 2019
• “Symbol or Substance? Modi’s decision to Appoint a Chief of Defense Staff”, War on the Rocks, 27 November 2019
• “A Top Post, its Promise and Peril”, The Hindu, 21 August 2019
• “The United States, India, and the Future of the Indo-Pacific Strategy” (with Walter C. Ladwig III), NBR Commentary, 20 June 2019
• “20 Years After Battle of Tololing, Defence Reforms and Kashmir Policy are Modi’s Key Challenges”, The Print, 14 June 2019
• Anit Mukherjee, “Joint Doctrine for Armed Forces: the single-service syndrome,” The Hindu, May 09, 2017
• Mukherjee, Anit. "India-Singapore: Deepening Defence Cooperation." The Straits Times, November 2015
• Mukherjee, Anit. "UN missions bedrock of India’s military engagement and assistance to Africa." The Indian Express, October 29, 2015.
• Anit Mukherjee, “Closing the military loop,” The Indian Express, April 01, 2015
• Mukherjee, Anit. “An Army in a (reluctant) Transition.” India in Transition, University of Pennsylvania, December 2013.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “ADMM Plus: Talk Shop or Key to Asia Pacific Security.” The Diplomat, August 22, 2013.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Sarkariyat as Strategic Culture.” India in Transition, University of Pennsylvania, June 2013.
• Mukherjee, Anit.“Civil-Military relations in Crisis.” India in Transition, University of Pennsylvania, September 2012.
• Mukherjee, Anit.“Marching Forward on Reforms.” The Hindu, July 2012.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Republic of Opinions.” Times of India, January 2012.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “How India’s bureaucracy stays unaccountable.” Wall Street Journal (Asia), December 2011.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Mental Battle.” India Today, November 2011.
• Mukherjee, Anit., and V. P. Malik. “Do we need a Chief of Defense Staff?.” Indian Express, July 2011.
• Mukherjee, Anit.“ The Future is now.” Times of India, June 2011.
• Mukherjee, Anit.“Defense Reforms shouldn’t wait for another ‘Kargil.’” Sunday Times of India, March 2011.
• Mukherjee, Anit.“No magic bullet for the military.” Live Mint, December 2010.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Tell it like it is.” Times of India, June 2010.
• Ladwig, Walter, and Anit Mukherjee. “Putting US-India ties back on track,” Wall Street Journal (Asia), November 2009.
• Mukherjee, Anit., and Walter Ladwig. “Relationship advice.” Indian Express, November 2009.
• Mukherjee, Anit, and Dhruva Jaishankar. “The Limits of US Diplomacy in Kashmir.” Brookings, January 2009, http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2009/01/15-kashmir.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Keep the troops there.” Indian Express, July 2008.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “IAF, Know Yourself.” Indian Express, May 2008.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Speaking truth to rising power,” Indian Express, May 2008.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “An Army for Tomorrow,” Indian Express, January 2008.
• Yusuf, Moeed, and Anit Mukherjee. “Counterinsurgency in Pakistan: Learning from India.” National Security Outlook Series, American Enterprise institute (AEI), September 2007.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Generals and their Stories,” Indian Express, June 2007.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “The Unbearable injustice of Forgetting.” Indian Express, January 2007.
• Mukherjee, Anit. “Lessons from Another insurgency.” New York Times, March 2006.

• AS6001 Comparative Politics in Asia
• S6041 Civil-Military Relations