ABSTRACT
Prior to nuclearisation it was believed that deterrence in light of the nuclear backdrop would make conventional contest obsolescent. To tide over the interim an 'Nuclear Risk Reduction Centre' plus (NRRC) serving as an 'enhanced nuclear risk reduction measure' (NRRM) needs to be in place, with its tasks appropriately framed for covering peace, crisis and conflict. Robert Osgood was the foremost theorist of the concept in the Cold War period. The chronological narrative has it that inception of the doctrine took place at a conference at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in the wake of the Kargil War. The civil-military divide, absence of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and lack of articulation of strategic doctrine make the defence of self-conceived doctrine compelling. An echo across centuries is in Nitin Pai's talk at the Army War College. At the organisational level, three models are operational: Rational Actor, Organisational Process and Bureaucratic Politics.
