Fearful Symmetry

by Ganguly, Sumit; Hagerty, Devin T.

• ISBN13: 9780295985251
• ISBN10: 0295985259
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-30
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

With the nuclearization of the Indian subcontinent, Indo-Pakistani crisis behaviour has acquired a deadly significance. The past two decades have witnessed no fewer than six crises against the backdrop of a vigorous nuclear arms race. Except for the Kargil war of 1998-9, all these events were resolved peacefully.Nuclear war was avoided despite bitter mistrust, everyday tensions, an intractable political conflict over Kashmir, three wars, and the steady refinement of each side's nuclear capabilities. Sumit Ganguly and Devin T. Hagerty carefully analyze each crisis, reviewing the Indian and Pakistani domestic political systems and key decisions during the relevant period.This lucid and comprehensive study of the two nations' crisis behaviour in the nuclear age is the first work on Indo-Pakistani relations to take systematic account of the role played by the United States in South Asia's security dynamics over the past two decades in the context of uni-polarization, and formulates a blueprint for American policy toward a more positive and productive India-Pakistan relationship.

Author Biography

Devin T. Hagerty is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Sumit Ganguly is Professor of Political Science and Rabindranath Tagore Chair of Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(20)
Wars Without End?	21	(23)
1984	44	(24)
India, Pakistan, and Preventive War Fears
Threat Perceptions, Military Modernization, and a Crisis	68	(14)
The 1990 Kashmir Crisis	82	(34)
Out of the Closet	116	(27)
The 1998 Nuclear Tests Crisis
The Road to Kargil	143	(24)
The 2001--2 Indo-Pakistani Crisis	167	(20)
Exposing the Limits of Coercive Diplomacy
Lessons, Implications, and Policy Suggestions	187	(26)
Index	213

Excerpts

"While there exists literature on different aspects of Indo-Pakistani relations, there has been no comprehensive study of the two nation's crisis behavior in the nuclear age. This book fills this gap. It is also the first to take systematic account of the role played by the United States in South Asia's security dynamics over the past two decades in the context of unipolarization, and formulates a blueprint for American policy towards a more positive and productive India-Pakistan relationship." "This important and topical study will appeal to a wide audience ranging from political scientists, foreign policy specialists, military personnel, researchers and scholars of strategic studies, diplomats, journalists, and the interested lay reader."--BOOK JACKET.