Regionalism in South Asia: Negotiating Cooperation, Institutional Structures (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)

In December 1985, seven South Asian countries established the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to address issues of peace and development in the region. But the growth of SAARC in terms of institutional developments and program implementation has remained modest and slow over the past two decades. South Asian regional cooperation issues and questions have acquired added significance in the context of the growing importance of South Asia as one of the strategically important sub-regions of the world in the post-Cold War era. This book develops an analytical framework by linking the nature of the institutional structures, government capabilities, and domestic actors' preferences to explain the dynamics of regional cooperation in South Asia. Substantive empirical studies on primary data generated from elite interviews and content analysis of prestige South Asian newspapers form part of the book. Additionally, trade transaction data among South Asian countries have been integrated to the analysis to root discussion of South Asian regional cooperation in firmer ground. By so doing, Dash enhances the understanding of scholars and policy makers about the cooperation issues in South Asia and provides important information on the trends and prospects of regional cooperation in South Asia. Regionalism in South Asia will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, regionalism, and international relations.Kishore C. Dash is the author of 'Regionalism in South Asia: Negotiating Cooperation, Institutional Structures (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)', published 2008 under ISBN 9780415431170 and ISBN 0415431174.