Non-Traditional Challenges | Book Review| Security Lense | 11-Dec-2024
The book Critical Issues in South Asia: Politics, Security and Non-Traditional Challenges edited by Dr. Khurram Abbas and published by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) is a notable contribution to understanding the complex challenges confronting South Asia. The authors are very young researchers and this book captures a very dynamic view of the immediate political, security, and non-traditional concerns. The editor’s vision here appears to focus on bringing the youth into the critical discourses regarding the region, ensuring future and inclusive approaches to policymaking. Their collaborative work makes emerging scholars talk about the precarious balance that the region maintains between prospect and peril, with themes varying from strategic stability to cultural diplomacy, and water security.
The document, divided into three parts, elaborates on the contemporary challenges facing South Asia; the first deals with international terrorism and emerging technologies. The opening chapter of this section demonstrates the vulnerability of commercial drone regulation through an examination of drone use for terrorist purposes in Pakistan and proposes a comprehensive legal and strategic framework aimed specifically at countering such use. The next chapter takes on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) shift towards soft power; it focuses on their adopting social media as a vehicle for propaganda. The analysis pinpoints the importance of counter-narratives in counter-terrorism addressing this new dimension.
The second section is devoted to strategic stability; it consists of four chapters on matters such as nuclear diplomacy, artificial intelligence, the U.S. integrated deterrence, and India’s militarization of space. Nuclear diplomacy is critical on social media between India and Pakistan as it parallels the crisis from Pulwama-Balakot.
Similarly, the chapter on AIs shows the destabilizing potential of the militarization of emerging technologies in India, detailing means that Pakistan can employ to maintain parity. Thus, U.S. integrated deterrence addresses its ripple effects on South Asia, calling for Pakistan to invest in research and development of technological advances to survive the upheavals in geopolitics.
The last part of this section involves a critical evaluation of the Indian space program, outlining the program’s implications for regional security and the urgent need for Pakistan to reform its space policy.
In the last section, a discussion on security threats is presented in terms of traditional and non-traditional views. There is also a very significant chapter on cultural diplomacy, which promotes the use of shared histories and even soft power to lessen non-traditional challenges such as those posed by water disputes and climate change.
As a case in point for creative avenues for cooperation under conditions of hostility, one finds the proposed Indo-Pak Cultural and Art Corridor. Another chapter studies the water policies of India under the present ruling political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in a very different light – that of “hydro-extremism” as a threat to water security for Pakistan. The final word studies maritime security policy and shows the play between the dominant and other, sometimes opposing, subcultures of strategy in Pakistan and how the dynamics of institutions impact national security decisions.
All this creates Just a brief overview of how the BJP’s demographic and electoral strategies in Jammu and Kashmir will help expand upon what promises to be a very long debate about identity politics in an already thus dangerous region.
The book, critically considered, excels in diverseness and detail in analysis yet sometimes leans toward a Pak-centric narrative. Such perspectives are defensible considering the variable backgrounds of contributors, but this ultimately limits wider South Asian resonance. Furthermore, some chapters, while richly contented, could have been better grounded in empirical evidence to substantiate the claims. Nonetheless, this commendably interdisciplinary contribution, at the same time introducing young voices, is set not to lose its relevance with scholars and policymakers alike.
To sum up, this textbook Critical Issues Facing South Asia presents an analytical as well as well-rounded picture of the complicated issues the region faces. The focus on youth participation, different modes of resolution, and a mixture of traditional and non-traditional challenges make it a vital resource for academics, policymakers, and anyone else with an investment in South Asia’s future. Although minor limitations can be pointed out, the insights and recommendations of the book provide a sound basis for addressing the many problems that beset the region and pave the way for informed, effective policy making.
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