Nuclear deterrence in Southern Asia : China, India and Pakistan /

Rajain, senior policy analyst in the New Delhi office of the Centre for Global Studies, starts from the nuclear tests of May 1998 in India and Pakistan to explore the triangular relationship in southern Asia between those two nations and China. Based on interviews in the three countries as well as a thorough examination of the bibliography of nuclear deterrence, he assesses each nation's nuclear capability. He concludes that in this region nuclear weapons have not assisted in achieving stability, nor have they contributed to establishing a lasting peace. He examines three crises and finds that the deterrence impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis did not repeat itself in the Ussuri River clashes or the Kargil crisis. Then he examines the three nations individually, and examines the possibility of limited nuclear war in the region in the years ahead. This balanced and carefully analyzed work raises grave concerns about the breakdown of deterrence in this turbulent region. A specialized work, of value to most large university libraries. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through research collections. J. A. Rhodes Luther College