The Political and Strategic Imperatives of Nuclear Deterrence in South Asia
by Michael Ryan Kraig

This article examines the fundamental drivers of the South Asian nuclear standoff as it currently exists, assessing the likely stability or instability of nuclear deterrence from a geopolitical perspective. The analysis illuminates the basic political imperatives underlying bilateral deterrence on the Asian subcontinent (India-Pakistan and India-China), and in doing so provides assessments of the risks and dangers accompanying the India-Pakistan and India-China nuclear relationships. The author utilizes the history of US nuclear diplomacy, doctrine, and deployments - in particular, US reliance on coercive diplomacy as a crisis management tool during the Cold War - to shed light on the India-Pakistan deterrent relationship. This examination allows for a more grounded and realistic judgment of the likely success of dedicated confidence-building regimes that could involve Western aid and advice.


Military Operations in Urban Areas: The Indian Experience
by C. Christine Fair

Despite India's considerable experience with conducting military operations on urbanized terrains (MOUT), there is little evidence that India is adopting a formal MOUT doctrine. Even though India does not have a conventional MOUT doctrine per se, there are valuable lessons that can be learned from Indiaís extensive experience in urban operations, particularly in the contexts of low intensity conflict, counter-insurgency, and peacekeeping operations. This article analyzes the dimensions of urban conflict as expounded within the Indian defense literature, examining efforts to determine the unique demands the urban environment exerts on its forces. This research finds that within the Indian force structure, Indian institutions have generally been unable to absorb and disseminate the various lessons learned from these operations. In particular, there are few if any joint mechanisms to ensure that Indiaís entire security apparatus can draw from accumulated operational knowledge.

The Radcliffe Boundary Commission and the Fate of Kashmir
by Shereen Ilahi

Discussions about the Indo-Pakistani dispute over Kashmir often begin with the work of the boundary commission that partitioned Punjab as part of the August 1947 transfer of power from the British to the newly independent states of India and Pakistan. Pakistani officials have alleged that the boundary commissionís decisions concerning Kashmir were part of a British and Indian conspiracy. Among other complaints, these officials claimed that Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten gerrymandered the partition line so that India would maintain land access to Kashmir and could thus ensure that Maharajah Hari Singh would accede to India. This article evaluates the validity of such allegations by examining what the mission of the boundary commission was, what it awarded to which new nation and why, and who made its decisions. The author concludes that claims of a British-Indian conspiracy to keep Kashmir in Indian hands are unsubstantiated and that the commission's partition of Punjab was not affected by the Kashmir dispute.

Mullahs on the Mainframe: A Review Essay
by Karline McLain

In his recent book Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity among the Daudi Bohras, anthropologist Jonah Blank argues that the Daudi Bohras, a community of one million devout Indian Shia Muslims to whom faith is every bit as fundamental as it is to Afghans, Saudis, or Iranians, provide an example of how traditional religious beliefs can be compatible with modern ideologies and technologies. This review essay examines how Blank's ethnographic account counters the understanding of Islam that is prevalent in academic and policy-making circles in the West, as well as in the popular media, wherein Islam is typically understood to be incompatible with and hostile to modernity. This essay also situates Blank's work within the current field of Islamic studies and the recent work within that field on the need to break down such monolithic, oppositional concepts as "Islam" and the "West" or "tradition" and "modernity."