International Conflict Analysis In South Asia

This volume explores how we theorize, politicize, and practice peace and conflict discourses in the social sciences. As concepts, peace and conflict are intricately interwoven into a web of complementary discourses where states and other actors are able to negotiate, deliberate and arbitrate their differences short of the overt and covert use of physical violence. The essays in this volume reflect this eclecticism: they reflect on concerns of contemporary conflicts in world politics; the dissection of the ideas of peace and power; the way peace studies join with global agencies; peace and conflict in connection to geopolitics and identity; the domestic basis of conflict in India and the South Asian theatre including class, social cleavages and gender. Further they also process elements like globalization, media, communication and films that help us engage with the popular tropes and discursive construction of the reality that play critical roles in how peace and violence are articulated and acted upon by the elites and the masses in societies. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of political science, international relations theory, peace and conflict studies, public policy and area studies. It will also be a key resource for bureaucrats, policy makers, think tanks and practitioners working in the field of international relations.

International Conflict Analysis in South Asia: A Study of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan analyzes the ideological relationship of the Muslim identity to its perceived practice of Islam among the Shia and Deobandi sects. A Muslim identity, defined as the parameters of who is and who isn’t a Muslim has led to the political conundrum of Pakistan to an anticipated single interpretation of Islam causing severe sectarian violence across the country. Sectarianism has been rooted in Pakistan’s affairs since 1953, but most recently the country has been victimized by political and sectarian Islamic movements. The collective mobilization and propaganda campaigns of these movements have led exclusion of certain religious minorities and their practices. The study takes root in Punjab Pakistan among twenty seven interviews where the Deobandi sect and the Shia sect face severe fatalities and undefined conflict.

The South Asia region is one of the most populous and ethnically diverse in the world, but its social, political and economic development has been severely hindered by numerous inter-state and intra-state conflicts. This paper seeks to provide a more effective multidimensional framework for the analysis and management of internal conflict and security issues in this region, through the establishment of 'Peace Commissions'. These bodies could operate at national and regional levels in a similar manner to a human rights commission in order to establish effective institutional mechanisms to resolve social and political differences and so avoid violent conflict.

South Asia is a distinct geographical entity comprised of seven countries - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives (situated in the Indian Ocean). This book looks at these countries in a historical context, from inter-regional and international perspectives.

Revised version of papers presented at various conferences held between 2002 and 2006.

Destructive conflicts have thwarted growth and development in South Asia for more than half a century. This collection of multi-disciplinary essays examines the economic causes and consequences of military conflict in South Asia from a variety of perspectives embracing fiscal, social, strategic, environmental and several other dimensions.

Bringing together scholarship from several South Asian countries, this volume understands conflict resolution and cooperation building in the region. The essays cover three inter-related issues-security; political economy-domestic politics; and the construction of identities and normative frameworks. They employ broader social-science theorizing, particularly in relation to political economy, to go beyond conceptualizations based on international relations theory. The volume takes a fresh look at the inter-relationships between issues and their analyses and eschews stand-alone topics such as Kashmir, nuclear policies, or regional cooperation. Combining theory with fieldwork, it provides diverse perspectives and arguments for a more nuanced picture of international relations in South Asia.

India and Pakistan, nuclear neighbors and rivals, fought the last of three major wars in 1971. Far from peaceful, however, the period since then has been "one long crisis, punctuated by periods of peace." The long-disputed Kashmir issue continues to be both a cause and consequence of India-Pakistan hostility. Four Crises and a Peace Process focuses on four contained conflicts on the subcontinent: the Brasstacks Crisis of 1986–1987, the Compound Crisis of 1990, the Kargil Conflict of 1999, and the Border Confrontation of 2001–2002. Authors P.R. Chari, Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, and Brookings senior fellow Stephen P. Cohen explain the underlying causes of these crises, their consequences, the lessons that can be learned, and the American role in each. The four crises are notable because any one of them could have escalated to a large-scale conflict, or even all-out war, and three took place after India and Pakistan had gone nuclear. Looking for larger trends of peace and conflict in the region, the authors consider these incidents as cases of attempted conflict resolution, as instances of limited war by nuclear-armed nations, and as examples of intervention and engagement by the United States and China. They analyze the reactions of Indian, Pakistani, and international media and assess the two countries' decision-making processes. Fo ur Crises and a Peace Process explains how these crises have affected regional and international policy and evaluates the prospects for lasting peace in South Asia.