1st Edition

Nuclear Weapons and Conflict Transformation The Case of India-Pakistan

By Saira Khan Copyright 2009
    220 Pages
    by Routledge

    216 Pages
    by Routledge

    This new volume explores what the acquisition of nuclear weapons means for the life of a protracted conflict.

    The book argues that the significance of the possession of nuclear weapons in conflict resolution has been previously overlooked. Saira Khan argues that the acquisition of nuclear weapons by states keeps conflicts alive indefinitely, as they are maintained by frequent crises and low-to-medium intensity violence, rather than escalating to full-scale wars. This theory therefore emphasises the importance of nuclear weapons in both war-avoidance and peace-avoidance. The book opens with a section explaining its theory of conflict transformation with nuclear weapons, before testing this against the case study of the India--Pakistan protracted conflict in South Asia.

    This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, IR and Asian politics and security.

     

    IntroductionPart 1: Theory 1. Studies on Conflict Transformation2. Scholarship on Ramifications of Nuclear Weapons Acquisition3. Elucidating Conflict Transformation with Nuclear WeaponsPart 2: The India-Pakistan Protracted Conflict 4. Life of the Protracted Conflict5. Introduction of Nuclear Weapons in the Conflict6. Crises and Wars in the Pre-Nuclear Period7. Crises and Non-escalation in the Nuclear Period8. Futile Peace Initiatives in the Midst of Violence9. Conflict Transformed10. Potential for Conflict Termination.Conclusion.Bibliography

    Biography

    Saira Khan

    [Do not use until 09/01/09] "This book is an excellent analysis of how nuclear weapons acquisition can transform a conflict...Recommended.  Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections." -- CHOICE, Sept. 2009 Vol. 47 No. 01