South Asia’s Limited Progress toward Peaceful Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Basrur ◽  
Kate Sullivan de Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Institutional Architecture

This chapter argues that there has been some positive movement toward peaceful change in post–Cold War South Asia in comparison with the Cold War era. During the Cold War, India’s material preponderance in the region and its neighbors’ response were exacerbated by identity-driven conflict and problems of state survival. In the post–Cold War period, mutual insecurity has subsided somewhat, partly as a result of India’s transformation into more of an opportunity than a threat. Democracy, economic interdependence, and institutions are yet to deliver significant levels of peaceful cooperation in the region, however. Most often, the region’s states have seen ongoing democratization marked by instability; vastly more trade with extraregional than intraregional economies; and a regional institutional architecture—the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—whose already modest aspirations are circumscribed by India–Pakistan tensions and structural economic barriers. Peaceful change in South Asia will depend significantly on an uptick in India–Pakistan relations, or, given low levels of trade complementarity and China’s growing encroachment into the region, an acknowledgment that “South Asia” is unlikely to function as the central regional container for the pursuit of peaceful change.

Peaceful Change in Northeast Asia: Maintaining the “Minimal Peace”

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhubhindar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Liberal Internationalism ◽  
The Us ◽  
Regional Order ◽  
The Cold War

Northeast Asia is usually associated with conflict and war. Out of the five regional order transitions from the Sinocentric order to the present post–Cold War period, only one was peaceful, the Cold War to post–Cold War transition. In fact, the peaceful transition led to a state of minimal peace in post–Cold War Northeast Asia. As the chapter discusses, this was due to three realist-liberal factors: America’s hegemonic role, strong economic interdependence, and a stable institutional structure. These factors not only ensured development and prosperity but also mitigated the negative effects of political and strategic tensions between states. However, this minimal peace is in danger of unraveling. Since 2010, the region is arguably in the early stages of another transition fueled by the worsening Sino-US competition. While the organizing ideas of liberal internationalism—economic interdependence and institutional building—will remain resilient, whether or not minimal peace is sustainable will be determined by the outcome of the US-China competition.

Russia’s Changing Relations with Pakistan and Taliban: Implications for India

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinay Kaura
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The Cold War

Historically, India–Russia cooperation has largely been dictated by geopolitical factors. During the Cold War era, their relationship was defined by their similar strategic perceptions of the world. However, post-Cold War global politics has seen several transformations in geopolitical and geostrategic configurations, influencing the strategic worldview of both New Delhi and Moscow. Recent political trends demonstrate the growing divergence between the strategic approaches of the two states toward various global issues, including Pakistan and the Taliban. The article discusses the implications of the shift in Russia’s South Asia policy as well as India’s counterterrorism efforts.

The Emerging China, Pakistan, and Russia Strategic Triangle: India’s New Gordian Knot

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaiz Ahmad Thoker ◽  
Bawa Singh
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
The West ◽  
Problematic Situation ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Great Game

The primary cause for the emerging triple axis including China, Russia, and Pakistan in South Asia has been to curtail the Indo-US extended political, economic, and military connections. India in the post-Cold War era tilted significantly toward the West, the move which has been equally ostracized by the triumvirate. Hence, in reprisal, Russia’s recent rapprochement with the duo further solidified the Sino-Pak geostrategic bond. India’s wide-ranging collaboration with the US, primarily in the post-civil nuclear deal, led to the budding fusion of three atomic powers. Under such circumstances, the region has been enticing the major global powers and latterly various extra-regional players exhibited profound interests in the entire South Asia. Therefore, under the formation of power blocks, a new geopolitical great game has been emerging in the region. India, the leading South Asian player, therefore, has been facing an extremely problematic situation while making a balancing choice amongst the two hostile powers, China and the US. Against this backdrop, the study will primarily focus on the rise of South Asian Triple Axis and its possible consequences upon the rising Indo-US strategic leverage.

scholarly journals Regional Cooperation in South Asia: Exploring the Three Pillars of Regionalism and their Relevance

2020 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050008
Author(s):  
ADITI PAUL
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Power Balancing

The lofty ideals penned by the heads of the South Asian states at the birth of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) reflect a vision for promoting mutual trust and understanding in South Asia. But the member states have fallen into the intricate web of power balancing games, fluctuating economic growth and volatile ethnic and religious conditions that has marred the potential gains from regionalism. In such a scenario, while SAARCs snail-like progress continues without any remarkable achievements, there has been a rise of new regional organizations that has not only renewed our attention towards economic liberalization and the benefits accrued from multilateral economic cooperation but has also put into question the fundamentals of regionalism. The paper situates regionalism in acts of cooperation that are not isolated and discrete from each other but rather form a pattern of interconnecting expectations about the future of the alliance and the assumptions on legitimate activities. The paper argues that regionalism is a multi-faceted task and involves political harmony, economic interdependence and common identity as the three pillars. But regionalism in South Asia encourages economic interdependence and proscribes political integration and common values and norms. As a result, the attempts at regionalism in South Asia are conceptually narrow, limited in agenda and inadequate to address the issues of regional peace and security.

Strategic Dynamics of Crisis Stability in South Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110543
Author(s):  
Iftikhar Ali ◽  
Jatswan S. Sidhu
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Strategic Stability ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Analytical Approaches

In contrast to the pervasive confidence that the development of nuclear weapons ensures peace and stability by making wars too expensive to fight for, South Asian strategic stability has drifted into nasty security competition through arms race with an episodical crisis that continues at the sub-conventional level. Deterrence studies that were relegated to the bins of history soon after the end of the Cold War received a renewed interest of scholars on the subject since the demonstration of deterrent capabilities by South Asian rivals in 1998. A new wave of deterrence studies has developed in the current multipolar world with some scholars adopting Cold War models of analysis in the contemporary realms of South Asia, whereas other are attempting new analytical approaches. This article aims to offer a fresh look at how to provide a clear concept of strategic stability, how strategic stability is applicable in contemporary South Asia and what the recent crisis between India and Pakistan being interwoven with terrorism tells us about crisis stability between the two countries under the shadows of nuclear weapons.

scholarly journals International Anarchic Structure in Nuclearizing South Asia: An Analysis (1974-98)

2019 ◽  
Vol IV (IV) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robina Khan ◽  
Ghulam Mustafa ◽  
Muhammad Imran
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Level Of Analysis

This explanatory research aimed at analyzing the nuclearization of south Asia using the framework of 'third level of analysis' named 'international anarchic structure' by Kenneth Waltz. South Asia is the home to 1/3rd of the global population, out of which around 41% population lives under poverty line. Historical intra-state rivalries, personal political ambitions and the crucial geostrategic locality made the region extremely attractive for major powers since the de-colonialization of the sub-continent. The cold war antagonism offered extra space and shelter in acquiring nuclear capabilities to both India and Pakistan. India's first nuclear test in 1974, putting aside all the international nuclear proliferation efforts, provided legitimacy to Pakistan's nuclear designs. Moreover, the global powers once achieved their objectives in 1989, left the region on its own fate. Almost decade long pattern of confrontation-crisis-negotiations resulted in nuclear tests in 1998 by the two south Asian states while ignoring CTBT. Inclusion of nuclear weapons brought about unprecedented threats and the region became 'nuclear flash point.

Sub-Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia: The Mekong Basin

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörn Dosch ◽  
Oliver Hensengerth
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Yunnan Province ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Mekong Basin ◽  
Conflict Reduction ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Greater Mekong Subregion

AbstractThe paper analyses the security dimension of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) by taking into account traditional as well as non-traditional security issues. The Greater Mekong Subregion, which was established in 1992 at the initiative of the ADB, emerged after the Cold War in the wake of the so-called new regionalism as one of the growth triangles within ASEAN. Participating countries/regions are China's Yunnan province, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The article places the discussion of the Greater Mekong Subregion within the debate on post-Cold War sub-regionalism and sets out to discuss the development of regionalism in the Mekong Basin. The article shows how economic cooperation is followed in the pursuit of security and stability in a formerly conflict-ridden area and assesses the relevance of the GMS towards the issue of conflict reduction in the Mekong Basin.

Land of Blue Helmets

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Arab World ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Mediation

Born in 1945, the United Nations (UN) came to life in the Arab world. It was there that the UN dealt with early diplomatic challenges that helped shape its institutions such as peacekeeping and political mediation. It was also there that the UN found itself trapped in, and sometimes part of, confounding geopolitical tensions in key international conflicts in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, such as hostilities between Palestine and Iraq and between Libya and Syria. Much has changed over the past seven decades, but what has not changed is the central role played by the UN. This book's claim is that the UN is a constant site of struggle in the Arab world and equally that the Arab world serves as a location for the UN to define itself against the shifting politics of its age. Looking at the UN from the standpoint of the Arab world, this volume includes chapters on the potential and the problems of a UN that is framed by both the promises of its Charter and the contradictions of its member states.

Worse Than a Monolith

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Coercive Diplomacy ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Security Relations ◽  
Opposing Camp ◽  
The Cold War

In brute-force struggles for survival, such as the two world wars, disorganization and divisions within an enemy alliance are to one's own advantage. However, most international security politics involve coercive diplomacy and negotiations short of all-out war. This book demonstrates that when states are engaged in coercive diplomacy—combining threats and assurances to influence the behavior of real or potential adversaries—divisions, rivalries, and lack of coordination within the opposing camp often make it more difficult to prevent the onset of regional conflicts, to prevent existing conflicts from escalating, and to negotiate the end to those conflicts promptly. Focusing on relations between the Communist and anti-Communist alliances in Asia during the Cold War, the book explores how internal divisions and lack of cohesion in the two alliances complicated and undercut coercive diplomacy by sending confusing signals about strength, resolve, and intent. In the case of the Communist camp, internal mistrust and rivalries catalyzed the movement's aggressiveness in ways that we would not have expected from a more cohesive movement under Moscow's clear control. Reviewing newly available archival material, the book examines the instability in relations across the Asian Cold War divide, and sheds new light on the Korean and Vietnam wars. While recognizing clear differences between the Cold War and post-Cold War environments, the book investigates how efforts to adjust burden-sharing roles among the United States and its Asian security partners have complicated U.S. security relations with the People's Republic of China since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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