This collection of seminal articles illustrates the reasons for the spiraling nuclear race in the Asian subcontinent and introduces the principal debates in the field. Authors discuss whether the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the South Asian powers has raised the likelihood of a nuclear war in the subcontinent or reduced the chance of a conventional war breaking out. They examine whether a small nuclear arsenal or a nuclear triad, as declared by India, is suitable for bringing stability to the region, as well as the risk of an accidental nuclear conflagration. The first section charts the evolution of nuclear programmes on the basis of realpolitik, and the second section analyses nuclear policies on the basis of religious and cultural ethos. A few essays turn the spotlight on the role of external powers in accelerating, decelerating and mediating the ongoing nuclear tension between India and Pakistan.

Outraged conscience, careful argument, poetry and political analysis -- gathered here is the diversity of voices, traditions, and approaches that are weaving themselves into an anti-nuclear and peace movement in India and Pakistan. In these essays, written before, during, and after the May 1998 nuclear explosions, scholars and activists from both countries attempt to understand and challenge the nuclearisation of South Asia. The essays are an act of resistance against governments that see nuclear weapons as a currency of power, as symbols of prestige, as sources of security, as moments of glory in an otherwise dismal contemporary history.The collection includes Mahatma Gandhi's response to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and recent writings by renowned scholars Eqbal Ahmad, Rajni Kothari, Ashis Nandy, and Amartya Sen, as well as Arundhati Roy and veteran anti-nuclear activists, academics and journalists. The volume also contains the texts of many of the historic public statements protesting the May 1998 nuclear tests which helped mobilise public opposition to the bomb in South Asia. There is a resource guide to books, films and websites on nuclear weapons, as well as information on many organisations now working on this issue.

This three volume series presents the best academic research on all forms of contemporary warfare in South Asia. The selected articles and papers are in an accessible format for ease of reference and cover conventional war, the nuclear shadow, insurgency, counter-insurgency, terrorism and religious conflicts. The series reflects the huge upsurge of interest in this topic in recent years and is of interest to scholars and students of military studies, international relations, political history and foreign policy.

With the nuclearization of the Indian subcontinent, Indo-Pakistani crisis behavior has acquired a deadly significance. The past two decades have witnessed no fewer than six crises against the backdrop of a vigorous nuclear arms race. Except for the Kargil war of 1998-9, all these events were resolved peacefully. Nuclear war was avoided despite bitter mistrust, everyday tensions, an intractable political conflict over Kashmir, three wars, and the steady refinement of each side's nuclear capabilities. Sumit Ganguly and Devin T. Hagerty carefully analyze each crisis, reviewing the Indian and Pakistani domestic political systems and key decisions during the relevant period. This lucid and comprehensive study of the two nations' crisis behavior in the nuclear age is the first work on Indo-Pakistani relations to take systematic account of the role played by the United States in South Asia's security dynamics over the past two decades in the context of unipolarization, and formulates a blueprint for American policy toward a more positive and productive India-Pakistan relationship.

The essays included in this volume focus on conventional war on land, sea and air fought by the states of South Asia and their impact on the host societies and economies. The authors are drawn from academia and the military in India and Pakistan, as well as from outside the subcontinent in order to give a wide perspective. In the introduction the editors describe the changing contours of warfare in South Asia, and the similarities and dissimilarities with warfare in the Middle East and South East Asia. The volume highlights the influence of extra-regional powers like China, Russia and the US in providing arms, munitions and shaping the texture of military doctrines and force structures of the South Asian powers.

An important and critical re-evaluation of South Asia's post-tests nuclear politics. Unlike other books, this volume emphasises the political dimension of South Asia's nuclear weapons, explains how the bombs are used as politico-strategic assets rather than pure battlefield weapons and how they are employed by India and Pakistan in an extremely complex and competitive South Asian strategic landscape.

Unconventional war is an umbrella term which includes insurgencies, counter-insurgencies, terrorism and religious conflicts. Insurgencies and communal conflicts have become much more common in this region since 1947, and more people have died in South Asia due to unconventional wars than conventional warfare. The essays in this volume are organized in two sections. While the first section deals with insurgencies, counter-insurgencies and terrorism; the second section covers the religious aspects of the various intra-state conflicts which mar the multi-ethnic societies of South Asia.