Focusing on the two tumultuous decades framed by Indian independence in 1947 and the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, The Cold War on the Periphery explores the evolution of American policy toward the subcontinent. McMahon analyzes the motivations behind America's pursuit of Pakistan and India as strategic Cold War prizes. He also examines the profound consequences--for U.S. regional and global foreign policy and for South Asian stability--of America's complex political, military, and economic commitments on the subcontinent.

McMahon argues that the Pakistani-American alliance,...