Book Reviews

Abstract

78 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVI, No.3, Spring 2013 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum South Asia, China Turkey and the Middle East INDIA’S NEIGHBOURHOOD: THR ARMIES OF SOUTH ASIA edited by Vishal Chandra, published by Pentagon Press and the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi 2013, Pp.169. This book explores the role of the army, in shaping the political destiny. He deals with the national armies of seven South Asian countries bordering India. Some chapters focuses on the armies of individual countries, discuss the security environment in which each country is situated. COOPERATIVE SECURITY FRAMEWORK FO SOUTH ASIA edited by Nihar Nayak, published by Pentagon Press and the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi 2013, Pp.256. This volume brings together views of some of the most eminent scholars and security analysts from South Asia on the challenges and prospects of a cooperative security framework in the region (CSF). Despite strong historical and cultural linkages the region has been suffering from underdevelopment due to lack of cooperation and cohesive policy. ARAB SPRING IN EGYPT: Revolution and Beyond edited by Bahgat Korany and Rabab El-Mahdi, published by the American University in Cairo Press, Pp.349 this volume includes essays on: The Protesting Middle East, Corruption, Repression, and Resistance, The political Economy of Mubarak’s fall, Stagnant Religious Discourse and New Secular and New Secular Movements, Working Class Power. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA, INDIA AND EAST ASIA Managing Change in the Twenty First Century by Kartik Roy, Hans Blomqvist, Cal Clark published by Edward Elgar. Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, Ma, USA, Pp. 307. The authors present a thought-provoking analysis of how institutional factors such as geography, history of religion , culture and political governance have been deeply interwoven with development dynamics to shape the growth and development trajectory that each country has subsequently followed. 79 GANDHI & THE STOICS: Modern Experiments on Ancient Values by Richard Sorabji, published by the University of Chicago Press2012, Chicago, Pp.224. The author shows how a look a Gandhi’s convergence with the stoics works mutually, throwing light on both of them. By treating most things as indifferent, paradoxically, both the stoics and Gandhi could love manifoldly. In drawing these links to the fore, Sorabji demonstrates the comparative consistency of Gandhi’s philosophical ideas, isolating the specific ideological strengths that were required to support some of the most consequential political acts and experiments in how to live. THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE UNITED STATES: History, Politics and Ideologies edited by David W. Lesh and Mark L. Haas, Published by Westview Press, Pp.540. This volume explores the following: the 2003 Iraq War and why the Us decided to invade; Islamist perceptions of US involvement in the Middle East; the war on terrorism; and the relationships between the United States and Israel, Iran , Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. It also features the US-Iranians relations and US relations with Al Qa’ida. NUCLEAR PAKISTAN: Strategic Dimensions edited by Zulfiquar Khan published by Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan 2011, Pp. 275. This book is a critical study of the nuclear and deterrence-related security dilemma of Pakistan vis-à-vis India. It recapitulates the different facets of its strategic dimensions in view of the growing conventional and strategic asymmetry. It critically examines some key issues like: NPT; nuclear command and control, the Kashmir conflict. THE DOMESTIC ABROAD: Diasporas in International Relations by Latha Varadarajan, published by Oxford University Press, Oxford Pp.244. In the past few decades, and across disparate geographical context , states have adopted policies and initiatives aimed at. This volume reveals the manner in which the boundaries of the nation and the extend of the authority of the state, in India and elsewhere, are dynamically shaped by the development of capitalist social relations on both global and national scales. SHIISM AND THE POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST by Laurence Louer, translated by John King, published by Columbia University Press, New York Pp.154. Louer studies depicts Bahrain’s troubles as a phenomenon rooted in local perceptions of injustice rather than in the fallout from Shiite Iran’s foreign policies. She argues that, although Iran Islamic Revolution had...