The essays included in this volume focus on war fought conventionally on land, sea and air by the states of South Asia, and their impact on the host societies and economies. The volume also highlights the influence of extra-regional powers such as China, Russia and the US in providing arms and munitions and shaping the texture of military doctrines and force structures of the South Asian powers.

Contents: Introduction; Part I Theory and Practice of Conventional Warfare in South Asia: India's strategic posture and the Border war defeat of 1962: a case study of miscalculation, Yaacov Vertzberger; The Glorious 17 Days September 1965 War, Syed Shabbir Hussain and M. Tariq Qureshi; Indo-Pak War, 1971: some lessons, Yogi Saksena; The strategic outlook for the Indian sub-continent: some lessons of recent history, Robert Jackson; The Cold War and United States military aid to Pakistan 1947-60: a reassessment, Sultana Afroz; US weapons and South Asia: a policy analysis, Stephen P. Cohen; Evolution of the Indian Navy, Kaushik Roy; Aircraft carriers and the Indian Navy: assessing the present, discerning the future, Ashley J. Tellis; The People's Liberation Army: a threat to India?, Dennis Woodward; A cold start for hot wars? The Indian Army's new limited war doctrine, Walter C. Ladwig III; Air power and joint operations: doctrinal and organisational challenges, Vijay Oberoi; Computer aids to command and control, J.R. Isaac, S.C. Gupta and S. Ramani; Revolution in military affairs and battlefield management: an Indian perspective, Davinder Kumar. Part II Economy, Politics and Society in South Asia: The development of India's defence-industrial base, R.G. Matthews; Ethnic group recruitment in the Indian Army: the contrasting cases of Sikhs, Muslims, Gurkhas and others, Omar Khalidi; Indian security policy and the rise of the Hindu Right, Sandy Gordon; Civil-military relations in India, P.R. Chari; Governmental machinery for the evolution of national defence policy and the higher direction of war, P.V.R. Rao; India's national security council: stuck in the cradle?, D. Shyam Babu; Militarized decision-making for war in Pakistan: 1947-71, Julian Schofield; Name index.

Scott Gates is Research Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); Kaushik Roy is Reader in History at Jadavpur University, India and Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway