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This paper seeks to explain the absence of a theory-building enterprise in the disciplinary evolution of International Relations in South Asia. It examines structural constraints such as the sub-continent’s colonial experiences and disciplinary location of International Relations in terms of its relationship with the parent discipline of Political Science and Area Studies. Other factors include lack of institutional infrastructures, intellectual and financial capital as well as the turf battles between academia on one hand and bureaucracy (in India) and army (in Pakistan) on the other. More problematic is the predisposition of IR scholars to rest content with producing diplomatic historical narratives and adapting Western theories to their local contexts. The task of theory building has been substituted with theory-application within the conventional parameters rooted in the Western experience of statehood and international system. The paper argues that South Asians must shed this intellectual dependency in order to evolve indigenous concepts and tools best suited for their social, economic and political realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the impact of cultural and ethnic elements of various communities of South Asia on the security condition of India. A reconceptualization of the concept of nationalism is presented. It states that analyzing nationalism as a living experience in daily life can open up the possibilities for seeing it as a multidimensional phenomenon. Also discussed is the application of the concepts and tools of traditional security studies to the situation of the deep cultural and ethnic involvement of the country and its neighbors in the region.

The launch of the global war on terrorism (GWOT) brought South Asia to the centre of world affairs in a way it had never been before. The new centrality has also served to exacerbate deep-rooted tensions between India and Pakistan, particularly over Kashmir, as each country competed to pose as the US's chief ally in the region. With India attempting the have Pakistan portrayed as a failed state, and the US increasingly inclined that way, the situation in the region promises to be volatile, particularly as it is unlikely that these efforts will succeed. The relationship between the two nation-states is situated against the backdrop of the New American Imperialism and the apparently conciliatory approach of the current Indian National Congress (INC)-led government of India, which has replaced the Hindu nationalist aggression of its predecessor, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). At the same time, this paper argues that the conflict will remain unresolved until the very terms on which it is based, those defining partition in 1947 itself, and the relationships between the Hindus and Muslims of South Asia are revisited and dramatically rethought. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Globalization is increasing, the trend toward regional integration in South Asia is moribund. Indeed many of the forces of globalization are working against integration among the seven countries of South Asia. While South Asian integration is held hostage to India-Pakistan relations, it is necessary to look at the foreign policy of the smaller countries in the region. This paper will seek to tease out the unique and supporting role that the smaller and weaker nations can play in regional integration. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dramatic transformation has occurred in India-US relations in the last decade. The interactions between the two democracies have expanded enormously and their impact is beginning to be felt beyond the bilateral realm. This evolving partnership holds the potential to shape not only the regional politics of South Asia but the international relations of the wider Asia-Pacific region. Some analysts project an even grander vision, claiming that this relationship may play a decisive role in determining the future global order. Taking these projections as a point of departure, and recognizing the impressive strides that have been made in Indo-US ties, this research focuses on the strategies, outputs and consequences of this foreign policy engagement. Its impact on Asian stability in the context of a rising China is also analysed. The research also studies the dynamics between the three major Asian powers, India, China and Japan, whose bilateral equations with the US are divergent and therefore of concern to the smaller powers of the region. How these major powers relate to one another and whether their mutual interactions can be autonomous are some of the questions that this research explores while charting the course of Indo-US relations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]