South Asia in 2020: Future Strategic Balances and Alliances

This volume consists of revised versions of papers presented at conference sponsored by the Asia/Pacific Research Center and the Center for International Security and Cooperation of Stanford University, and the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute on January 4-5, 2002. While there are numerous ways to approach the question of "whither South Asia?" the conference organizers decided to focus on the future of strategic balances and alliances in the region, with 2020 as the target date. This choice of topic allowed the conference participants to talk not only about the patterns of amity and enmity within the region, but also about the role of extraregional powers and issues such as social and economic trends, domestic political conditions, strategic culture, and the role of nuclear weapons. These factors can affect the relative power of countries as well as their relations of friendship and hostility.