A Region in Turmoil

Book excerpt: South Asia has been the setting for some of the century's most violent invasions, the Western world's bloodiest defeats, and a volatile geopolitical brew of religions, ethnicities, and nationalism that sends unsettling ripples through the global balance of power even today. Rob Johnson writes here the engrossing history of the individual conflicts that have engulfed the states of South Asia during the last half century. A Region in Turmoil offers a new perspective on the area, drawing together the conflicts of South Asia and examining them in local and global contexts, from the end of the Western colonial empires through today's global efforts to combat terrorism. Johnson's incisive analysis breaks down the historical and political roots of the conflicts and departs from traditional Western-centric paradigms to reveal heretofore overlooked South Asian viewpoints on the conflicts and connections among the wars. He probes the causes, contexts, and conclusions of the conflicts, ranging from the enduring insurgency in Myanmar to the struggle of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the unrest in the Punjab and Assam states, the Bangladeshi war of independence, and the intractable struggles in Kashmir and Afghanistan. The twenty-first century opened with South Asia front and center on a turbulent political stage: the region is not only the designated frontline for the "war on terror" but also home to the newest nuclear powers, India and Pakistan. A Region in Turmoil addresses this critical contemporary crisis with an invaluable analysis of the region and its complex history, making it essential reading for historians, policymakers, and anyone who reads the front page of the daily newspaper.