This book illuminates the complexities of Indian foreign policy decision-making by examining India's nuclear testing propensity as a distinctive foreign policy signal, separate from nuclear weaponization itself. Providing a well-researched and developed study, this book employs a comparative foreign policy (CFP) framework that integrates all three levels of analysis: structural, domestic, and individual. Chapters utilize multivariate analysis to explain how Indian policymakers leverage nuclear testing as a strategic signal. Through rigorous examination, the book identifies the international relations theory that best explains India's foreign policy-making process, and assesses its broader applicability to other middle power nations in challenging the existing rules-based international order. The book ultimately broadens the literature on India’s nuclear evolution, and the literature on nuclear proliferation and international security more broadly. This rigorous and analytical book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students studying international relations, security studies, nuclear proliferation, and South Asian studies.
