Dr.W.Lawrence S.Prabhakar is Associate Professor of Political Science Madras Christian College, Chennai (Madras). He graduated with MA and M.Phil Degrees in Political Science from the Madras Christian College. His doctoral work was on Strategic Thought in India Since 1971 which he earned as PhD from the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies University of Madras.

He specializes in academic and policy research on the following areas: Nuclear Missile issues in Southern Asia; on Maritime Security issues in the Indian Ocean and the Asia-Pacific Region and on research in India-United States Strategic Relations; Grand Strategy of India and Grand Strategy of China.

His most recent academic stint has been as Visiting Research Fellow in the Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies (IDSS) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr Prabhakar was working on the project Competitive and Cooperative Maritime Strategies of US, Japan, China & India: Implications for South East Asia. His work on this project would soon be published as a volume entitled The Evolving Maritime Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific by the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore.

His forthcoming book is The Maritime Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific: Maritime Doctrines and Nuclear Weapons At Sea (Singapore: World Scientific Publications August 2006). http://www.worldscibooks.com/eastasianstudies/6128.html.

He holds a concurrent position as Visiting Fellow, Maritime Security Programme, Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies (IDSS) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, besides his position as Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Madras Christian College.

His earlier research fellowships have been Visiting Fellow, The Henry Stimson Center, Washington DC USA, where he worked on The Draft Indian Nuclear Doctrine: Perspectives of Regional & Global Nuclear Powers May-August 2001 ;In this stint he also worked on Indian Security Perspectives of the PLA Navy in South Asia for the Center for Naval Analysis, Alexandria Virginia USA.

A sample of his most recent publications in various volumes include India and the Ballistic Missile Defenses in the 4-Volume The Scribner’s-Gale Encyclopedia of India co-edited by Stanley Wolpert and Raju Thomas Scribners-Gale-Thomson, New York (2005) The Challenge of Minimal Nuclear Deterrence (2002); The Maritime Strategic Perspectives of the PLA Navy in South Asia-Indian Ocean Region (2003) Asymmetric Warfare and the New War: Implications for Policy and Strategy (2002); India’s Case for a Limited Missile Defense (2002)