International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   Two important puzzles confront any analyst examining the literature on South Asian foreign and security policy issues. First, very few South Asian case materials have been effectively integrated into the mainstream of the foreign and security policy literature. Second, the bulk of the scholarship on these subjects emanating from the region has been quintessentially devoid of theoretical substance. The neglect of this region is puzzling as it offers a rich array of cases pertaining to questions of comparative foreign policy, interstate wars, regional crises, and the effects of nuclear proliferation, amongst other issues. Yet only a very small number of scholars have devoted any significant effort in drawing on this substantial body of evidence from the region. Such a gap in the literature is quite puzzling because the principal country in the region, India, has long sought to play an important role in global affairs. Its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was one of the founding members of the nonaligned movement (NAM), an ardent critic of nuclear weapons, and an important advocate for multilateral institutions ( Brecher 1999 ). India, as a leader of the NAM, also played a vital role in promoting decolonization, seeking to reduce Cold War tensions, promoting the cause of global nuclear disarmament, and attempting to bridge the North–South economic ... log in or subscribe to read full text