DWA 252 Security Issues in South Asia

While Washington policymakers during the Cold War paid only episodic attention to South Asia the region has become a focal point for U.S. security policy over the last decade or so. Since the nuclear weapon tests by India and Pakistan in 1998 their entrenched conflict-prone strategic rivalry has acquired a much more dangerous edge. The region is also the epicenter of global terrorism with Islamabad simultaneously acting as a sponsor of the Taliban forces fighting in Afghanistan and serving as a pivotal U.S. ally in the war against Islamist terrorism. Finally after decades of disdain about India's strategic potential U.S. officials have invested singular energy in recent years in developing what is a tacitly anti-China security partnership with India. Although South Asia encompasses a number of countries this course will focus on the region's two most important powers - India and Pakistan - and their relationships with the United States and China - the two extra-regional powers that have the most influence on regional affairs. The following topics will receive special attention: The sources of and prospects for the India-Pakistan strategic rivalry including the long-standing territorial dispute over Kashmir and the more recent competition for influence in Afghanistan. The effects of nuclear proliferation on India-Pakistan interactions. The economic rise of India and its implications for New Delhi's security posture especially vis-à-vis Islamabad Washington and Beijing Pakistan's national prospects and their security implications. China's growing role in regional security affairs The emergence of non-traditional security challenges in the region (e.g. conflicts over access to natural resources population pressures.) The impact of South Asian security issues on U.S. strategic interests the development of U.S. bilateral relations with India and Pakistan and the management of the triangular relationship.