In the span of just ten years India waged three conventional conflicts against peer competitors with radically divergent results. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, India was humiliated by China in a short conflict that saw the Chinese occupy substantial Indian territory. Three years later, during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, India was able to reach a stalemate, successfully defending Kashmir but proving unable to defeat Pakistan on the plains of Punjab. Lastly, during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, India achieved a stunning success, decisively defeating Pakistani forces in East Pakistan in just thirteen days. The roots of these three divergent outcomes can be traced to the varied condition of Indian civil-military relations and its impact on pre-war defense planning, wartime operations, and war termination.
President Putin made three foundational assumptions in launching his war against Ukraine that should have been correct but were not. First, Putin assumed the invasion of Ukraine would be a quick and easy fight. Second, he assumed the world would denounce the invasion but tacitly allow it. Third, Putin assumed the war would deter NATO expansion.
