South Asia in International Relations Theory.

Among the multiple critiques of International Relations theory, its limited relevance for understanding the global South's place in global affairs has gained increasing attention in recent years. IR theory's poor ability to describe and explain, much less predict, the behavior of states in the global South is recognized as one of its primary shortcomings. This in part accounts for the tepid reception that this body of theory has received within countries not counted among the great powers. Both academic and policy-making circles in the developing and less developed world are skeptical about a theoretical tradition whose claims to universalism not only ignore them, but also act to reify a global order within which they are destined to draw the short straw. The South Asian Region exemplifies this breach between contemporary IR theorizing and the multifarious problems besetting states and societies in the global South. Until very recently, the violence and social conflicts found in nearly every corner of South Asia were not even on IR's radar screen. In this paper I will discuss what contemporary IR scholarship may or may not offer in its treatment of the South Asian Region, and of the armed conflicts the South Asian Region in particular. My analysis will be limited to three issues familiar to the developing world, as seen through the lens of South Asia?s current crisis: the correlation of state weakness with violence and instability, the post-territorial nature of security threats, and the North-South power disparity. I will conclude with some observations on what this may tell us about the adequacy of the theories themselves. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]