SSP Wednesday Seminar with speaker David Smith, Stimson Center.

David Smith will discuss his new book, The Wellington Experience: A Study of Attitudes and Values Within the Indian Army.

The Wellington Experience: A Study of Attitudes and Values Within the Indian Army by Col. David O. Smith (retired) offers an in-depth analysis of India’s premier professional military education institution and challenges some conventional wisdom on the Indian armed forces. Based largely on structured interviews of U.S. military personnel who attended India’s Defence Services Staff College at Wellington over a nearly four-decade period, this work explores the Indian military’s training and education, a range of socio-cultural and organizational dynamics, internal and external threat perceptions, and attitudes towards the state and security issues. Insights from this analysis apply far beyond Wellington and carry implications for the doctrine, readiness, and role of India’s armed forces; for India’s approach to great power competition; for regional strategic stability; and for the future of the Indo-U.S. defense relationship.