This volume represents a comprehensive and detailed case study of the long-running conflict between India and Pakistan - primarily over the contested territory of Kashmir, and the involvement of the United States within that conflict. The book details the history of 'Partition', the critical event in the modern history of the subcontinent and the fundamental catalyst for the enduring rivalry between India and Pakistan. It provides a summary description and analysis of the characteristics - demographic, social-cultural, political, economic and military - of the three primary actors that are party to the conflict: the sovereign states of India and Pakistan and the territory of Kashmir. It explains the history of US policy toward India and Pakistan as individual countries as well as US policy toward the conflict between them, particularly in light of the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests of 1998 and events since September 11, 2001. In addition, the volume also describes and analyzes the involvement of three other major extra-regional actors.

Dr Kanishkan Sathasivam is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Salem State College, USA.

Contents: Preface; The origins of conflict between India and Pakistan: a brief review of history; Portraits of South Asia; India and US foreign policy; Pakistan and US foreign policy; Strategic instability in South Asia: why Kashmir may be the most dangerous place in the world; Conclusion: India, Pakistan, and the future of US Foreign Policy; Bibliography; Index.