JAMES HEVIA. The Imperial Security State: British Colonial Knowledge and Empire-Building in Asia.

Abstract

Much of James Hevia's far-ranging study is focused on information produced by the military intelligence wing of the British Indian Army that was based in Simla, or as it is known today, Shimla. Route books, maps, martial-race handbooks, and statistical studies from 1880 to 1940 are counted among the tools of an “imperial security regime.” To Hevia's credit, the chapter on the military revolution of the nineteenth century does not follow Geoffrey Parker's well-trodden path of superior technology. Hevia is more concerned with the reform of military organizations, and he provides European models for comparison with the British. Those who know the history of the British Indian Army will appreciate why the author pays considerable attention to Afghanistan as a recurring security issue. Hevia also urges us to consider a fragmented interpretation of “Asia” as attributed to the British Indian Army, a sweeping construct painted with broad brush strokes. This rendition fails to integrate influential individuals (such as General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton) who wrote about significant cultural shifts such as those embodied in the Russo-Japanese War. In fairness to Hevia, however, the positioning of Afghanistan against a greater backdrop of “Asia” does permit a glimpse of how a theater-based intelligence mechanism runs the risk of warping strategic perception. Not surprisingly, it is in writing about China that Hevia is at his best in terms of comfort level and fluency; no doubt a reflection of his academic specialization. Ultimately, the Afghan thread leads us back to the twenty-first century as the book's final chapter asks readers to consider historic versus contemporary military intervention in Afghanistan as seen from the standpoint of state security.