Limited War in South Asia: From Decolonization to Recent Times

ISBN-13: 9781409461999 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 204 str.

Scott Gates; Kaushik Roy

Opis

Although South Asia has experienced large-scale conventional warfare on several occasions since the end of World War II, there is an almost total neglect of analysis of conventional warfare in the Indian subcontinent. Focusing on China, India and Pakistan, this volume takes a unique approach. Regional rivalries between India and Pakistan are linked with global rivalries between the USA and USSR (later Russia) and then China, and war is defined in a broader perspective. Gates and Roy analyze the conduct of land, sea and air warfare, as well as the causes and consequences of conflicts. Tactical conduct of warfare (the nature of mobile armoured strikes and static linear infantry combat supported by heavy artillery) and generalship are studied along with military strategy, doctrine, and grand strategy (national security policy) which is an amalgam of diplomacy, military strategy and economic policy. They also highlight the relationship between civil-military relations and military policies. While following a realpolitik approach, this book blends the development of military strategies and doctrines with the religious and cultural ethos of the subcontinent's inhabitants. Whilst focusing on the higher military and political levels, the book also gives attention to the experiences of ordinary soldiers during a firefight in the battlefield. Based on sources not easily accessible to Western scholars, this volume argues that conventional warfare has been limited in South Asia from the very beginning, for reasons both cultural and realpolitik.

Spis treści

Introduction 1. Origins of the Indian and Pakistan Armed Forces 2. The First India-Pakistan War 3. The China-India War 4. The Second India-Pakistan War 5. The Bangladesh War 6. The Kargil War 7. Planning for Future War Conclusion