Identifying levels, structures and agency in post-cold war Indian foreign policy

espanolUna narrativa de la politica exterior de la India esboza inequivocamente su ascenso como una potencia principal en la politica mundial. Sin embargo, una lectura teorica y de estructuraautonomia de la politica exterior revela una compleja interaccion de factores existente tras el ascenso de la India; capacidades y poder, y consistencia normativa e ideacional. Desde su creacion como Estado soberano, la India se considero a si misma como un gran poder, a pesar de que habia obstaculos considerables para su realizacion. A pesar del ascenso meteorico de la India en el periodo posterior a 1998, no ha logrado traducir su preponderancia material ni en consenso estrategico ni en un liderazgo sagaz del subcontinente. El principal argumento de este articulo es que la India constituye un caso practico de la politica exterior de un Estado que esta forzosamente estructurado por la compleja interaccion tanto de fuerzas sistemicas como de acciones autonomas EnglishA narrative of India’s foreign policy would unambiguously outline its ascendance as a deserving major power in world politics. A theoretical, structure-agency reading of foreign policy however reveals a complex interplay of factors behind India’s rise; evolving material capabilities and power, and normative and ideational forces. From its inception as a sovereign state, India envisioned itself as a great power even though there were considerable obstacles to this. Despite India’s meteoric rise in the post 1998 period, it has not succeeded in translating its material preponderance into either strategic consensus or astute leadership of the sub-continent. The chief argument of this article is that India serves as a test case for the foreign policy of a state being compulsorily structured by the complex interaction of systemic forces on one hand, and agential actions on the other