Strategic culture reconceptualized: the case of India and the BJP

摘要

In this paper I argue that strategic culture is shaped by the ideology of a political party and is carried through elites' practices. A state's decision to become a nuclear power is often explained by rational choice theories. These theories assume states as rational actors and explain their behavior by cost-benefit calculation, keeping in mind the material cost involved in such decisions. The problem with such approaches is that they usually underemphasize the impact of other influences like culture. One such variable is the role of a political party's ideology that influences the identities of state elites and helps shape their strategic behavior. Therefore, strategic culture is appropriately explained by looking at intervening variable of elite socialization that stems from the persuasive power of socially constructed norms of political parties.