Afghanistan and Pakistan: Conflict, Extremism, and Resistance to Modernity This timely study surveys the conflict in Afghanistan from Pakistan’s point of view and analyzes the roots of Pakistan’s ambiguous policy—supporting the United States on one hand and showing empathy for the Afghan Taliban on the other. The author, a former foreign secretary of Pakistan, considers a broad range of events and interweaves his own experiences and perspectives into the larger narrative of the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship. Beginning with the 1989 departure of Soviet troops—and especially since the 2001 NATO invasion—Riaz Mohammad Khan examines the development of Afghanistan and surveys the interests of external powers both there and in…. Read more
Pakistani Diasporas: Culture, Conflict, and Change (Oxford in Pakistan Readings in Sociology and Social Anthropology) When compared to studies of the Indian diaspora, or even in the wider framework of diaspora studies, there is relatively meager research about the Pakistani diaspora. This collection is the first to bring together the extant literature and provide both a historical and contemporary set of accounts. It is primarily about the processes associated with migration and settlement as seen from the receiving end. Even though Roger Ballard and Junaid Rana offer accounts of Pakistan’s political economy, it is only in Frances Watkins chapter that migrant voices within Pakistan themselves speak. Even in this chapter their life…. Read more
My Kashmir: Conflict and the Prospects for Enduring Peace The picturesque Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, for centuries a model of harmony and coexistence, has been ravaged by conflict for sixty years, caught in a tug-of-war between historical rivals India and Pakistan. Now that both nations are nuclear powers, some see the Kashmir issue as a flash point for what could become a nuclear war. In My Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah lays out the intricate web of issues at the root of the conflict: ethnicity, religion, national identity, friction between national and local government, and territory. In an account that is equal parts history and memoir, he examines the complicating factors: the Indian government s missteps, the greed of the…. Read more
Political Conflict and Economic Interdependence Across the Taiwan Strait and Beyond (Studies in Asian Security) Why is it that political conflict between countries sometimes undermines commerce between those states, and yet at other times it seems to have little or no effect on cross-border economic flows? The question is an important one, yet, while numerous studies have considered how and to what extent international political conflict affects trade, few consider how and when economic linkages can develop despite hostile political relations. This book addresses that gap, and demonstrates that the impact of international political conflict on commerce will be muted when national leaders are accountable to internationalist economic…. Read more
Limited Conflict Under the Nuclear Umbrella: Indian and Pakistani Lessons from the Kargil Crisis (2001) This report examines the views of India and Pakistan on the significance ofPakistan_s foray into the Kargil-Dras sector in a limited war that has cometo be known as the Kargil conflict. The goal of the analysis is to assessboth combatants_ perceptions of the crisis, with a view to evaluating thepossibilities of future Kargil-like events and the implications of thelessons each country learned for stability in South Asia. The analysis isbased almost exclusively on Indian and Pakistani source materials.The Kargil crisis demonstrated that even the presence of nuclear weaponsmight not appreciably dampen security competition between the…. Read more
