Does South Asia Exist?

by Dossani, Rafiq

• ISBN13: 9781931368179
• ISBN10: 1931368171
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-13
• Publisher: The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Summary

Before 1947, South Asia was for the most part a single state. Multiple states emerged thereafter, and then moved apart politically, culturally, and economically. The resulting interstate tensions are manifest in the countless "negative lists"-items that may not be traded, tariffs that must be paid, transport lines that cannot be crossed-that govern these nations' daily interactions. Intermittent armed conflict in the region only intensifies feelings of distrust.

Author Biography

Rafiq Dossani is a senior research scholar at Shorenstein APARC and director of the Stanford Center for South Asia. He earlier worked for the Robert Fleming Investment Banking group as CEO of its India operations, and as deputy editor of Business India Weekly. His research interests include security, technology, and educational reform in India. Daniel C. Sneider is the associate director for research of Shorenstein APARC, directing the Center's project on regionalism and nationalism. A former foreign correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and the San Jose Mercury News, Sneider reported from India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union. Vikram Sood is vice president of the Centre for International Affairs at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based independent think tank that specializes in public policy. He earlier headed the Research and Analysis Wing of India's external intelligence unit, and regularly contributes articles to leading newspapers, journals, and magazines on international security and foreign policy.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. IX
Acknowledgments	p. XI
Introduction
Does South Asia Exist?	p. 15
Regional Integration: Lessons for South Asia from Around the World	p. 37
Regional Economic Integration in South Asia: The Development of Institutions and the Role of Politics	p. 53
Building the Institutions for Regional Integration: Country-Specific Issues and Attitudes
Bangladeshi Perspectives on South Asian Regional Integration	p. 85
Is a Successful SAARC an Imperative for India?	p. 99
Bhutan, Nepal, and SAARC: Harnessing Old Resources with New Instruments	p. 115
The Challenges and Drivers of Regionalism in South Asia: The India-Pakistan Peace Process	p. 151
South Asian Regionalism: A Sri Lankan Perspective	p. 169
Building the Scaffolding to Support Institutional Growth
Supply-chain Fragmentation and Regionalisn in South Asia	p. 183
Democratization as Scaffolding for Regional Integration	p. 199
Security Impediments to Regionalism in South Asia	p. 227
Great Power Attitudes Toward Regionalism
U.S. Attitudes toward South Asian Regionalism	p. 251
The "Southern Vector": Russia's Strategic Interests in Central and South Asia	p. 275
China and South Asian Regionalism: SAARC and Beyond	p. 295
Index	p. 307
About the Contributors	p. 327
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.