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This book delineates the role that Pakistan should play in the largely anarchic world of the twenty-first century in order to best serve the country’s long-term national interests. Its main aim is to lay down the parameters within which Pakistan’s grand strategy should be formulated, taking into account the evolving global and regional security environment and Pakistan’s historical experience. Provided here is an in-depth analysis and critical evaluation of the past record of Pakistan’s foreign policy within this context, bringing out its successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses. Based on these analyses, a comprehensive approach is recommended for safeguarding Pakistan’s na...
This volume examines the role of the military, the most influential actor in Pakistan, and challenges conventional wisdom on the causes of political instability in this geographically important nuclear state. It rejects views that ethnic and religious cleavages and perceived economic or political mismanagement by civilian governments triggers military intervention in Pakistan. The study argues instead that the military intervenes to remove civilian governments where the latter are perceived to be undermining the military’s institutional interests. Mazhar Aziz shows that the Pakistani military has become a parallel state, and given the extent of its influence, will continue to define the nature of governance within the polity. Overall, Military Control in Pakistan is a timely reminder and an important resource for both scholars and policy makers, clearly demonstrating the need to refocus attention on the problem of an influential military whilst drawing appropriate conclusions about issues ranging from democratic norms, political representation and civilian-military relations.
An esteemed scholar of Hinduism presents a groundbreaking interpretation of ancient Indian texts and their historic influence on subversive resistance Ancient Hindu texts speak of the three aims of human life: dharma,artha, and kama. Translated, these might be called religion, politics, and pleasure, and each is held to be an essential requirement of a full life. Balance among the three is a goal not always met, however, and dharma has historically taken precedence over the other two qualities in Hindu life. Here, historian of religions Wendy Doniger offers a spirited and close reading of ancient Indian writings, unpacking a long but unrecognized history of opposition against dharma. Doniger argues that scientific disciplines (shastras) have offered lively and continuous criticism of dharma, or religion, over many centuries. She chronicles the tradition of veiled subversion, uncovers connections to key moments of resistance and voices of dissent throughout Indian history, and offers insights into the Indian theocracy’s subversion of science by religion today.
The respective policies of the governments of Iran and Pakistan pose serious challenges to US interests in the Middle East, Asia and beyond. These two regional powers, with a combined population of around 300 million, have been historically intertwined in various cultural, religious and political ways. Iran was the first country to recognise the emerging independent state of Pakistan in 1947 and the Shah of Iran was the first head of state to visit the new nation. While this relationship shifted following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and tensions do exist between Sunni Pakistan and Shi'i Iran, there has nevertheless been a history of cooperation between the two countries in fields that are of great strategic interest to the US: Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Yet much of this history of cooperation, conflict and ongoing interactions remains unexplored. Alex Vatanka here presents the first comprehensive analysis of this long-standing and complex relationship
One of the most significant factors for contemporary international relations is the growth of China’s economic, military, and political power. Indeed, few analysts would dispute the observation that China’s power has strongly influenced the structure of the international system, major-power strategic relations, international security, the patterns of trans-border economic activities, and most importantly, the political and security dynamics in Asia in the twenty-first century. This book maps the growth of China’s political, economic, and military capabilities and its impact on the security order in Asia over the coming decades. While updating the emerging power dimensions and prevailin...
Bringing together a range of South Asian perspectives on rising China in a comparative framework, an attempt has been made, for the first time, to identify and examine the political, economic and socio-cultural stakeholders and constituencies that influence the respective policy of individual South Asian countries towards China. The essays also project how their mutual relations are likely to be shaped by these. The book is especially relevant today owing to China’s growing weight in Asian and global affairs.
This publication offers a stimulating, well-informed tour of the issues which policy makers will have to resolve if the integration of the NEEs into the world economy is to be facilitated
Irreverence and the Sacred brings together some of the most cutting edge, interdisciplinary, and international scholars working today in order to debate key issues in the critical and comparative study of religion. The project is inspired in large part by the work of Bruce Lincoln, whose influential and wide-ranging scholarship has consistently posed challenging, provocative, and often-irreverent questions that have really pushed the boundaries of the field of religious studies in important, sometimes controversial ways. Retracing the history of the discipline of religious studies, Lincoln argues that the field has tended to champion a "validating, feel-good" approach to religion, rather tha...