The Future of War and Peace in Asia

Contents: Preface/N.S. Sisodia. Asian Security in an Era of Transition: An Overview/S. Kalyanaraman. I The Changing Face of War?: 1. Regular and Irregular War/Lawrence Freedman. 2. The Evolving Security Threat in the Middle East/Hilal Khashan. 3. The Conflict in Afghanistan and the Evolution of Counter-Insurgency Strategy/Rod Thornton. 4. Assessing the US Global War on Terror in Afghanistan-Pakistan/C. Christine Fair. II Preparing for War: 5. Patterns of Doctrinal Change in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army: From Threats to Contingencies to Capabilities/Paul H.B. Godwin. 6. The US Air Force and the Changing Face of Air Power/Benjamin S. Lambeth. 7. India’s Maritime Forces: Oceanic and Coastal Security Imperatives/Rahul Roy-Chaudhury. III Star Wars in Asia?: 8. Is There a Space Race in Asia? Different Perceptions of Space/Kazuto Suzuki. 9. Who’s Afraid of Missile Defence?/Rajesh M. Basrur. 10. The Strategic Impact of Indian Ballistic Missile Defence/Dean A. Wilkening. IV Asian Geopolitics. 11. Thinking Strategically/John A. Warden III. 12. The United States and the Asia-Pacific/Ralph A. Cossa. 13. The Competition for Security Roles in Central Asia: A Russian Perspective/Ivan Safranchuk. 14. ‘A Harmonious World’ and China’s ‘New Diplomacy’/Yuan Peng. 15. Japan’s Security Policy in an Uncertain World: Evolution and Innovation/Lam Peng Er. 16. India’s Security Policy in the Post-Cold War Era/S. Kalyanaraman.V. The Emerging Asian Order: 17. The Rise of Asia: Strategic Uncertainties in Power Transition/Sujit Dutta.18. The Kindling Years: Balance of Power and the Role of Major Powers in Asia/Varun Sahni. Index.

This is an insightful analysis of inter- and intra-state conflicts and tensions in the countries of Asia even as the centre of gravity of economic, political and technological power is shifting from the Trans-Atlantic zone to Asia, particularly to East, South and Southeast Asia. The investigation ranges widely over conventional and asymmetric wars, terrorism as an instrument of policy in inter- and intra-state conflicts, suicidal Jihadism as a form of war by religious extremists to realise their manifest destiny, security problems arising out of failing states and problems inherent in the simultaneous rise of the two most populous, nuclear armed, developing, and neighbouring countries in Asia…