Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia: Crisis Behaviour and the Bomb (Asian Security Studies)

Despite concerted efforts, the international community has been unable to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. South Asia offers a crucial test of proliferation's effects on the crisis behaviour of newly nuclear states in a region of burgeoning economic and political importance. Drawing on recent studies theoretical paradigms, this edited volume examines three crises: the 1987 'Brasstacks' crisis, which occurred before the Indo-Pakistani nuclear tests and did not escalate to the level of outright conflict; the 1999 Kargil War, which occurred after the nuclear tests; and the 2001-2002 crisis, which occurred after the nuclear tests and failed to escalate beyond the level of a large-scale standoff. Chapters by leading scholars debate nuclear weapons' effects on these disputes from optimistic and pessimistic standpoints. The book has three main objectives: to understand nuclear weapons' impact on the Indo-Pakistani security relationship; to identify generalizable lessons from South Asian crises, and use these lessons to assess nuclear weapons' likely impact on new proliferators such as North Korea and Iran; and to explore implications for global security and proliferation policies. Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia will be of much interest to students of nuclear proliferation, international security and Asian politics.Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia: Crisis Behaviour and the Bomb (Asian Security Studies), 1 was published 2008 under ISBN 9780415440493 and ISBN 0415440491.