The book is about history of the Baloch conflict with Iran and Pakistan. The work describes and analyzes, from the very beginning, the protracted and bloody struggle of the Baloch against Iran and Pakistan. It is an attempt to answer some of the pertinent questions regarding the background and contextual factors of this long-drawn conflict. The book analyzes the strength and weaknesses of opposing parties in the conflict, and it discusses the role of regional and international interest groups. It is also an overview of the problems facing the Baloch national struggle in both countries and prospects for the success of the Baloch resistance in near future.

Three thousand years ago, a group of Indo-Iranic tribes (called Balaschik at that time) settled in the northwestern Caspian region of Balashagan. Circumstances forced them to disperse and migrate towards south and eastern parts of Iranian plateau. In medieval times, they finally settled in present Balochistan where they became known as the Baloch. During their long and tortuous journey from Balashagan to Balochistan, the Baloch faced persecutions, deportations, and genocidal acts of various Persian, Arab and other regional powers. During 17th century, after dominating Balochistan culturally and politically, the Baloch carved out a nation state (the Khanate of Kalat). In 1839, the British occupied Balochistan and subsequently it was divided into various parts. In the wake of the British withdrawal from India in 1947, Balochistan regained its sovereignty but soon Pakistan occupied it in 1948. The historical account of the Baloch is the story of a pastoralist nomadic people from ancient times to mid-twentieth century. The author outlines the origin of the Baloch state and its variegated history of survival against powerful neighbors such as the Persians, the British and finally, Pakistan. This fascinating research work discovers the background of the long drawn-out conflict between the Baloch and Pakistan and Iranian states.

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.

The Baloch National Struggle in Pakistan discusses the relevance of the principle of the right of self-determination in the context of rising trends towards ethnic nationalism in Afro-Asian countries. The book deals with the emerging conflict of the Baloch with Pakistan and Iran. It also discusses the geopolitical and geostrategic repercussions of any re-demarcations of the boundaries of Pakistan and Iran on the region and long-term policies of world powers. The book gives an insight into the political psychology and cultural traits of the Baloch struggle for safeguarding their historic personality, political sovereignty, and their national and cultural survival in Iran and Pakistan.

Balochistan is a tinderbox which has hitherto remained more or less unexposed to geo-political pressures -- either because of Indian docility or because of Pakistan's deft foreign policy or because it was not useful to the West. However, it holds the potential to emerge as a new diplomatic flashpoint involving India, Pakistan and a range of external stakeholders, including Afghanistan, Iran, USA, China, and Russia. The crisis in Balochistan is escalating into a full-fledge “Baloch War of Independence” in Pakistani-occupied Balochistan due to the oppressive policies of the Pakistani militaries dictatorship. The book covers the developments in post colonial Balochistan, its geopolitical significance, and the underlying grievances of the Baloch.

This fascinating study explores the emergence of a significant Sunni community on the margins of Shia Iran and delineates a 'Sunni arc' stretching from Central Asia southwards through the Iranian provinces of Khorasan and Baluchistan.

Ethnic and religious identity-markers compete with class and gender as principles shaping the organization and classification of everyday life. But how are an individual's identity-based conflicts transformed and redefined? Identity is a specific form of social capital, hence contexts where multiple identities obtain necessarily come with a hierarchy, with differences, and hence with a certain degree of hostility. The contributors to this book examine the rapid transformation of identity hierarchies affecting Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, a symptom of political fractures, social-economic transformation, and new regimes of subjectification. They focus on the state's role in organizing access to resources, with its institutions often being the main target of demands, rather than competing social groups. Such con- texts enable entrepreneurs of collective action to exploit identity differences, which in turn help them to expand the scale of their mobilization and to align local and national conflicts. The authors also examine how identity-based violence may be autonomous in certain contexts, and serve to prime collective action and transform the relations between communities.