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In Conversation with Vikram Sood | The Ultimate Goal

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In The Ultimate Goal, Vikram Sood, former chief of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), explains ‘the narrative’ and how a country’s ability to construct, sustain and control narratives, at home and abroad, enhances its strength and position. 

In conversation with the HarperCollins India team, he sheds more light on what he really means by ‘the narrative’, and reveals what the ultimate goal is. Read more:

You discuss this in detail in your book, but could you give the layperson an overview of what ‘the narrative’ you refer to is?

Narratives are more than bed-time stories. In the international state-to-state context they are designed to set up themes in support of national interests. Narratives are an essential asset apart from military power, economic strength and technological prowess that are the measurements of power. These alone are not enough unless there is a storyline to match that keeps the people engaged. Narratives of this designed to keep friends and allies together, attract new adherents, enabling access to other countries and their resources and in opposition to the adversary. National interests of a superpower being global are much wider but cannot be asserted neither through sporadic displays and perpetual use of military might, economic power and technological capabilities.  In the ultimate analysis, narratives are an essential part of seeking and maintaining total control and domination.

Narratives provide justification for a course of action military or economic while the real reason for doing so may be totally different.  They are designed to enhance notions of a benevolent, gentle, democratic, freedom loving and peace-loving nation but powerful and invincible against adversaries.  Another aspect is about superiority – of values, strength, and power, even race and religion. They are subtle and persuasive designed to create perceptions making military and economic pursuits easier and are not propaganda blasts. A state narrative simultaneously seeks to relegate the adversary to nothingness.

Narratives are therefore not built in a day nor by a single agency. It is a sustained national effort, includes the arts, literature, sports, – anything that projects superiority. Narratives are built by the nation acting together and not in a government office issuing handouts. They cover every aspect of society, at home and abroad.

In my book I discuss the various ways and at different times how narratives were used by nations. Basically it has been either the British or the American narratives that have impacted India and these are what I discuss mostly apart from the Chinese and Russian. 

Your career as an intelligence officer has spanned over three decades. What prompted you to write about such a topic?

As one studied international relations over a period, it became clear that one could generally make out a trend of actionable policy from what was discussed at think tanks and reported by the media. One could see a pattern emerging. For instance, if there were increased reporting of trouble in a particular country in Latin America reasons would be found to intervene. Energy issues  were a vital issue in the Middle East, yet the Iraq invasion was because it was alleged that Saddam was manufacturing WMDs. IN the 1980s as the Americans nurtured the Afghan Mujahedeen who asserted they were fighting Islamic jihad, Raegan had no difficulty in describing them as something equivalent to the Founding Fathers of the American nation.

In your experience, how often do governments spin narratives to suit a particular interest? What is the ‘ultimate goal’ the title refers to?

The ultimate goal is to build a narrative that enables dominance and control. As mentioned earlier, military power or economic power is not always enough or is impractical. In fact, there have been serious limitations in the use of military power, post World War II as the US has begun to realise. The success rate of its military interventions has been poor. Something more is needed to keep the flock together and pro-American.

China’s recent attempt at portraying itself as a responsible nation in the Covid climate and rejecting any accountability for the ongoing pandemic has backfired. How effective are state-propagated narratives in the global sphere and in managing international relations?

The Chinese campaign has been state-led. Not only have these been wooden and unimaginative, at times even comical. They have not succeeded in removing the image of China as an irresponsible nation. This could be partly because of their own ineptitude but also because of Western narratives.

The onset of TV media in the early 2000’s and digital media from 2010 have been game-changers for dispensing information easily. How has the R&AW been impacted by these developments?

National intelligence organisations like the R&AW or the IB are not in the business of reporting day to day unverified information. They report only verified or at least reasonably verified intelligence to their consumers in the government. They aren’t in the race for TRPs. Initially, neither the consumer nor the intelligence agencies understood this. The consumers demanded instant confirmation and the agencies began to divert resources for this. Gradually both realised the difference.

The technological shift because of the Social Media and communications with the entire information available on a smart phone, and applications that could transmit this to hundreds of people in a few seconds has been an immense change. All agencies have been impacted and presumably are coping with it.

What is the Russian narrative today and how has it evolved during the Putin era?

Vladimir Putin seeks to retain equality with the US in the context of a rising China without losing Chinese support. It is a tight rope walk. However, the Russian narrative during the Putin years has become ‘slick’, more confident and far removed from the stolid Soviet days. It is competitive but does not have the avenues that the West has with the latter’s control on international media. Perhaps online campaigns and use of Artificial Intelligence are aggressive as was seen with the US elections of 2016

How do you see various competing narratives impacting the upcoming US elections? 

Ultimately victory will go the person whose narrative is most acceptable to the voter; not his policies but perceptions about the candidate. Opinion polls are going to be partisan  and reflect the narrative of the agency conducting the poll.

The Ultimate Goal
About the Book - The Ultimate Goal

In The Ultimate Goal, Vikram Sood, former chief of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), explains 'the narrative' and how a country's ability to construct, sustain and control narratives, at home and abroad, enhances its strength…

About the Author - Vikram Sood

Vikram Sood, a career intelligence officer for thirty-one years who retired in March 2003 after heading the R&AW, is currently adviser at the Observer Research Foundation, an independent public-policy think tank based in New Delhi. He writes regularly on security,…

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