International Relations of South Asia

This module introduces students to the international relations of South Asia through three main sections/themes. The first section is an overview of the relevance of South Asia for contemporary global politics as well as understanding the evolution of the region into independent nation-states beginning with the partition of the sub-continent. The second section begins by examining the post-partition period. It then proceeds to examine the impact of the international Cold War on South Asia and how events unfolding beyond the region had an impact on South Asia. The third section scrutinizes particular themes key to discussions of the contemporary international relations of South Asia. These include analysing the discourse of a ‘rising’ India in global affairs as well as the role of domestic politics, nuclear weapons, the global ‘war on terror,’ trade and regional cooperation in South Asia.