Nuclear Strategy and Regional Stability in Southern Asia
| DOI | 10.1177/2347797016689229 |
| Date | 01 April 2017 |
| Published date | 01 April 2017 |
| Author | Jalil Mehdi |
| Subject Matter | Review Essay |
Nuclear Strategy
and Regional Stability
in Southern Asia
Jalil Mehdi1
Vipin Narang. 2014. Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International
Confl ict. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 360 pp. ISBN: 978-0-691-15983-6.
Jeffrey Lewis. 2014. Paper Tigers: China’s Nuclear Posture. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, for the
International Institute for Strategic Studies. 159 pp. ISBN: 978-1-138-90714-0.
Neil Narang, Erik Gartzke and Matthew Kroenig, Eds. 2016. Nonproliferation Policy and
Nuclear Posture: Causes and Consequences for the Spread of Nuclear Weapons. New York,
NY: Routledge. 353 pp. ISBN: 978-1-138-92569-4.
Abstract
The essay aims to explain interconnections between international security,
domestic politics and nuclear strategy of China, India and Pakistan. Most of
the scholarship has been unable to probe the deep interconnections that
inform the nuclear strategy of these three countries. The literature is based
on a generalisation of the superpowers’ Cold War nuclear experience and an
analysis of the other nuclear powers’ arsenal is made through the conceptual
and theoretical categories offered by such literature. This article argues against
using cold war experiences as a basis for conceptualizing regional powers’
nuclear strategies. It begins with a discussion on Posture optimization theory,
applying it to understand nuclear strategies of the three Southern Asian nuclear
powers and seeks to understand the nature of strategic competition between
them and its effect on their respective nuclear postures.
Keywords
Southern Asia, No first use, posture optimization theory, Civil-Military
1 Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Jalil Mehdi, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi, India.
E-mail: mehdijalil@gmail.com
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
4(1) 123–137
2017 SAGE Publications India
Private Limited
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2347797016689229
http://aia.sagepub.com
Review Essay
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