A Conversation with Dr. Swapna Kona Nayudu

Non-alignment,  a defining theme in 20th-century Indian foreign policy continues to grow.

In the latest episode of the New Books Network, Dr. Swapna Kona Nayudu, our Public Policy & Global Affairs Faculty member and Deputy Director of the Global Asia Research Centre, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, discusses her new book, The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non‑Alignment (Cambridge University Press, 2025), tracing the origins and meaning of non-alignment during the Cold War.

Drawing on extensive archival research in multiple languages, Dr. Nayudu examines India’s diplomatic engagements under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from 1947–1964, including India’s influence in four major global crises; the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Revolution, and the Congo Crisis and what these reveal about the contested, ambiguous nature of non-alignment.