Conflict Resolution in South Asia

Abstract

The South Asian region has some of the most intractable political conflicts of any part of the world and at three levels: international, national and subnational. Yet it has not attracted the attention of conflict resolution theorists as much as the various regions of Africa have. This chapter is not meant to fill this gap in theoretical or political analysis, but rather to raise some relevant issues; identify some of the specific points of conflict and the sources of such conflicts; assess these in the light of the changes in the world situation especially in the context of the revolutionary changes that have occurred in Central and Eastern Europe with the simultaneous collapse of communist regimes there; and to indicate potential changes in the nature of South Asia’s conflicts in the late 1990s. In doing so it will seek to identify some common themes in South Asian conflicts, their similarities and diversities, and attempt some broad conclusions on the prospects for their management if not resolution.