ABSTRACT
The discipline of political science conceives of nationhood in terms of tangible attributes that denote territorial control and a definite and recognizable political identity. Primarily among these is the notion of a clearly delineated frontier that provides a sense of security to the inhabitants and also has the capacity and wherewithal to keep unwelcome intruders at bay. Once again, the differentiation between a natural and an artificial frontier is significant, with the geography associated with a natural frontier considered more defensible and psychologically impregnable than a purely man-made frontier. The contrast between the pre-World War II Maginot Line that divided France and Germany and the English Channel is of significance in this framework. The German army (Wehrmacht), which breached the Maginot Line in 1940, utilized the ‘blitzkrieg’ approach of swift movement, overwhelming force and outflanking manoeuvres to render the Maginot Line helpless in stopping their swift movement into France. On the other hand, the English Channel has served as a natural barrier between England and its adversaries, last being breached by William of Normandy in 1066. Similarly, the United States of America has benefited strategically from the fact that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans lie on its eastern and western flanks as natural frontiers. It is significant that the war of 1812 between England and the United States of America was the last occasion that a foreign army had fought a war on the American mainland. Successive American administrations postulated the idea of strategic security for the American nation state thereafter through a dynamic but consistent policy which fostered the development and maintenance of strong neighbourly relationships with the nations of Canada and Mexico located on their northern and southern flanks, while also maintaining naval dominance as a form of deterrence on their eastern and western seaboards. It is in this contextual framework that the Himalayan frontier of India is analysed and discussed here.
