Geo-politics of South Asia
Fall 2011
Tuesdays
Instructor: Ambassador (Rtd) Touqir Hussain
Course description
South Asia has changed and so has basis of U.S. and other big powers’ relations with it The currents of change, spawned by the end of the Cold War, globalization, the region’s nuclearization, resurgence of China and the emerging shift in the balance of power in Asia, the rise of religious extremism and war on terrorism, have been flowing in varying directions presenting new threats, challenges and opportunities.
The course will look at the region against the historical background of its relations with the world. But the major focus will be on the dramatic developments within South Asia during and since 90’s and the region’s evolving relations with the US, China, Russia, Japan, Iran, the Middle East and the Central Asia. Especially how US is helping India in realizing its aspirations for a big power status, and a factor of stability in the region, and Pakistan in its salvation from chronic weaknesses by building its capacity to reform itself. Pakistan, both as a partner and a potential target , in the war against religious extremism and terrorism, has become a major foreign policy challenge for the US and is likely to occupy an important place in the national security and foreign of America for some time.
The course will look at these threats and challenges specially the US war against extremism, more particularly the Taliban and Al Qaeda, being fought with the help of two critical allies Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The region also compels attention because of great strategic and economic opportunities especially in India with its projection of military power, marked economic and technological achievement and potential, its democratic structure, and its aspirations for big power status and a plausible balancer of China. And also how the US and its energy deficient allies Europe and Japan are coordinating their policies to promote regional peace and stability in South Asia and pursuing a policy of benign encirclement of China and containment of Russia by courting countries on their periphery. The course will examine these issues.
Last but not least, the course will also look at the relations between India and Pakistan that are home to more than a billion people and together they account for almost 20 percent of the world's population. Four decades of dynamic change and social turbulence has seen them emerge as nuclear powers. Although the countries share centuries of common history and they emerged from a common independence movement, their post-colonial developments have been strikingly different. In this class, we will compare the similarities and differences of India, Pakistan. In particular, we will investigate why India has been able to consolidate its democracy while Pakistan has suffered through long periods of authoritarian rule. What are the sources of religious fundamentalism in each country? What are the consequences of economic, political, and cultural globalization for the two countries as well as smaller states of South Asia specially their search for stability, development and democracy?
Student Participation
This is a seminar not a lecture class and its success very much depends on student contribution. Attendance, preparation, and participation are thus essential and will be explicitly noted. Students will be expected to read for comprehension approximately 100 pages per week and will be expected to participate actively in seminar sessions based on their critical understanding of assigned readings. I will introduce, provide context to, and summarize ideas, and will bring my own expertise and insights as a policy practitioner to bear on extensive reading that the students are expected to do. And then we will mostly discuss, debate and brainstorm. Students will be challenged to develop bold and innovative thinking habits and skills. Participation grades will be decided by the quantity and the quality of your contributions.
I will encourage the students to see beyond the headlines, and develop critical faculties to discriminate between myth and reality, words and deeds, and perceptions and facts. Clarity of thought and expression in asking good questions but also in writing good analytical papers will be on premium.
I will also circulate articles from newspapers and magazines relevant to the course. I also expect all students to share material they have found relevant with me for onward transmission to the class. Credit will be given to those students who can cite relevant books and articles during class discussions. The careful reading and absorption of the material will advance the understanding and comprehension of students
Course Requirements and Grading:
Students will be evaluated in three ways:
1. Quality of questions and opinions expressed in the class will play an important role in making the class a stimulating intellectual experience for everyone. As a consequence, class attendance, preparation, and participation in discussions will account for an important part of your grade -- 35 percent of the final grade.
2. Each student will give one class presentation during the course. Students will be free to choose their topics from a wide ranging list provided by me sometime after the fourth or fifth seminar when enough basic ground has been covered and I have also got a fair idea of the students’ backgrounds and exposure to the issues. The topics will complement the issues that will be the focus of class discussion. These presentations will last for no more than 10-15 minutes each and depending on the number of students in the course will be either one or more per seminar. The class will critically discuss the presentations. The discussion will be moderated by me and I will also ask and raise questions and give my own input to carry forward the discussion. In the light of the discussion the student will then amend if necessary the presentation and submit it to me a final written version of 4-6 pages the following week. The presentations and papers will count for 25 percent of your grade.
3. A well developed research paper which will constitute 40% of the grade. The research paper will make an in depth analysis of the topic selected after its approval by me. The topic will be proposed by the student and approved by the Instructor. The topic encapsulated in a one paragraph outline, should be selected and submitted to me. The paper should be not less than 16 pages (not including the cover page and bibliography) and no more than 20 typed double spaced pages. The topic should be submitted to me in writing by Tuesday, October 25. An approved topic cannot be changed except in consultation with me. The paper is due on Tuesday December 13. The papers will be graded based on the coherence of their logic, their factual accuracy, and their demonstration of mastery of the materials covered in the course. You must be concise and to the point. There will be no room for fluff in these analyses and thus you should plan on editing them multiple times.
BOOKS
- India: the Emerging Power
Stephen Cohen
- The Idea of Pakistan
Stephen Cohen
General readings every week:
Students are required to monitor and absorb following newspaper and weekly magazine websites from India and Pakistan
INDIA
The Hindu
Indian Express
DNA India
Outlook magazine
PAKISTAN
Dawn
The News
Pakistan Today
Express Tribune
Friday Times
List of Seminars
(I) Introduction
SEMINAR 1 An introduction to the course, and to South Asia: History, politics, religion and culture.
For a brief historical background—Excerpts from J M Roberts’ Penguin History of the World (2004) Pages 422-440; 638-641; 815-818; 849-857; 979-983; 1046-1048; 1117-1118; 1159-60
(II) Democracy, social issues and development.
SEMINAR 2. How did India consolidate its democracy?
India’s Government Institutions, federalism and nation-making
Jyotindra Dasgupta “India’s federal design and multicultural national construction,” in Atul Kohli (ed.) The Success of India’s Democracy. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2001. pp. 49-77.
James Manor, “Center-State Relations,” in Kohli, 78-102.
Atul Kohli and Rani D. Mullen, “Democracy, growth, and poverty in India,” in Atul Kohli, Chung-in Moon, and Georg Sorensen (eds.) States, Markets, and Just Growth. Tokyo: United NationsUniversity Press, 2003, pp. 193-226.
SEMINAR 3Pakistan’s founding roots—the idea of Pakistan and the state in Pakistan: The military state and the reinvention of Islam Pakistan’s frayed social fabric, faltering economic development and troubled democracy.
Steve Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan pp. 1-38.
Hamza Alavi, “Social Forces and Ideology in the Making of Pakistan,” Economic and Political Weekly ((December 21, 2002) pp. 5119-24.
Akbar Ahmed, "Jinnah and the Quest for Muslim Identity," History Today 44 (September 94) pp. 34-40.
Vali Nasr, “Military Rule, Islamism and Democracy in Pakistan,” Middle East Journal 58:2 (Spring 2004) pp. 195-210.
Aqil Shah, “Pakistan’s ‘Armored’ Democracy,” Journal of Democracy 14:4 (October 2003) pp. 26-40.
SEMINAR 4 Challenges of nation and state building in South Asia’s smaller states
Devin Hagerty: South Asia in World Politics–Pages 89-112
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Bagla Desh: challenge of consolidating democracy
(III) Contrasting national identities and foreign policies
SEMINAR 5. India’s Foreign Policy: an historical analysis
Devin Hagerty: South Asia and the World Politics—Introduction and Pages 11-48 and 135-157
Steve Cohen: India the Emerging Power Pages 36-65; 198-228
India’ self image by its leadership
Foreign Affairs July/August 2006 issue: Raja Mohan; India and Balance of Power
Washington Quarterly 26 no I Winter 2002-03 A Paradigm Shift Towards South Asia
SEMINAR. 6Pakistan’s Foreign Policy
Pakistan From Mosque to the Military
Hussain Haqqani Ch 1 Identity and ideology Pages 1-50
S M Burke Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: An Historical Analysis
Ch 1 Partition and Indo Pakistani disputes Pages 3-15; Part III Ch 11 Relations with India PP 219-239 Ch 14 The India Pakistani wars of 1965 Pages 318-357
Devin Hagerty: South Asia and the World Politics
Ch 2 Pakistan’s Foreign Relations PP 49-70
Steve Cohen The Idea of Pakistan PP 198-228
(IV) Issues of war and peace
SEMINAR 7. Seeds of conflict between India and Pakistan : The Kashmir Dispute and incompatible national identities. Kashmir Jihad
sikand.changing-course-of-kashmiri-struggle.pdf
S. M. Burke and Lawrence Ziring Pakistan’s Foreign Policy-An Historical Analysis
Part 1 Ch 2 The Non Aligned years 1947-53 The Kashmir Dispute PP16-46; Ch 3 Indo Pakistani crises and efforts at Conciliation Pages 47-61
The Regional and Ethnic Conflicts: Perspectives from the Front Lines: An Anthology of International Views and Voices on Ethno-Political Conflicts Ed Judy Carter
Ch 3 Jammu and Kashmir : An Indian View by Dipankar Banerjee PP 32-40
Kashmir Dispute by Ambassador Touqir Hussain PP 41-55
New Yorker Steve Coll Back Channel Atlantic Monthly ( text to be circulated by the instructor)
SEMINAR 8 . Afghanistan—the history, people and the culture
Afghanistan since 1979 : an Unending Revolution by Giles Dorronsoro
barnet.report-on-afghanistan.lib-iss.pdf( to be provided by the instructor)
SEMINAR 9.
Pakistan and Afghanistan : seeds of conflict of another kind
S. M. Burke and Lawrence Ziring Pakistan’s Foreign Policy-An Historical Analysis
Chapter on Afghanistan (PP 68-90)
Pakistan From Mosque to the Military
Hussain Haqqani Ch 5 Afghan Jihad Pages 159-198
(V) Rise of extremism, militancy, and the threat of terrorism
SEMINAR 10. Rise of religious extremism, jihadi culture and militancy in Pakistan : contribution by Pakistan’s internal dynamics, the 1980’s Afghan Jihad against the Soviet occupation, US Pakistan relations
Post 1979 Pakistan: what went wrong—Touqir Hussain Middle East Institute Policy Brief Pakistan and Islamization 1979-2009
Haqqani, Husain Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military
(2005)
Chapters 5 and 7
Abbas, Hassan Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism: Allah, then
Army, and America’s War Terror (M.E. Sharpe), 2005
Chapter 9, pp.201-216
Islam and Pakistan Touqir Hussain Pages 97—126Shiping, Hua (ed.) Democratization of Asia (University of
Louisville Press) 2009 (text will be provided by the instructor )
Hilaly, A.Z. “Costs and benefits of the Afghan war for Pakistan”
Contemporary South Asia, (2002) 11(3), pp. 291-310
Available at:
SEMINAR 11 India and China: conflict, competition and cooperation
Emerging India Steve Cohen Ch 8 India as an Asian Power Pages 229-269 Ch 10 India Rising PP 299-318
Foreign Affairs July/August 2006 issue: Raja Mohan; India and Balance of Power
Foreign Affairs Jan/Feb 2010: The new energy order
David victor and Linda Yueah
Journal of Interantional affairs Columbia University Spring/Summer 2011
China and India
Class presentations
SEMINAR 12 South Asia, Globalization and Economic opportunities—
Washington Quarterly 26 no I Winter 2002-03: Raja Mohan; A Paradigm Shift Towards South Asia
India’ self image by its leadership
Current History April 2006 issue: David Shambaugh: Asia in Transition
World is Flat by Thomas Friedman Chapters 1 and 2
UMD Globalization Handbook
Class presentations
SEMINAR 13. The two contemporary Afghan wars, the war on terrorism and the extremist threat to the region PART 1
Ahmed Rashid: Militant Islam, oil, and fundamentalism in Central Asia
Part one The rise of Taliban
Hussain Haqqani Pakistan Between Mosque and the Military
Ch 7 Jihad without borders Pages 261-310
US Institute of Peace Special Report by Ambassador Touqir Hussain (2005) US Pakistan Engagement: the War on terrorism and Beyond .
War on terrorism: where the US went wrong
Touqir Hussain Asian Journal of Public Affairs 2007
SEMINAR 14The two contemporary Afghan wars, the war on terrorism and the extremist threat to the region PART 2
Armitage, Richard L. and Berger, Samuel “US strategy for
Afghanistan and Pakistan” Council on Foreign Relations Task Force
Report November, 2010. Available at
publication/23253/
us_strategy_for_pakistan_and_afghanistan.html?co=C007303
International Crisis Group Briefing on Afghanistan :
“Afghanistan Exit or Engagement”, November 2010. Available at
afghanistan/B115%20Afghanistan%20--%20Exit%20vs
%20Engagement.ashx
Lakhdar Brahim and Ambassador Tom Pickering’s report by
The Century Foundation 2011
S Akbarzadeh (ed): America's Challenges in the Greater Middle East: The Obama Administration's Policies. Palgrave Macmillan (July 2011) Pakistan: A new beginning? Touqir Hussain Pages --
Class presentations