In 2009, after decades of conflict, the Sri Lankan government proclaimed the decisive defeat of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Elam. Subsequently, the state proved resistant to attempts by the UN and other international bodies to promote post-war reconciliation or reform.In this incisive new work, Judith Large investigates the ways in which the Rajapaksa government was able to subvert international diplomatic efforts, as well as exploring the wider context of rising Sinhalese natio...

A nation of 1.25 billion, India is the world's most diverse democracy. Drawing on his extensive fieldwork and experience of Indian politics, Sumantra Bose tells the story of democracy's evolution in India since the 1950s and describes the challenges it faces today: from poverty and inequality to Maoist revolutionaries and Kashmir secessionists.

Twenty years ago India was still generally thought of as an archetypal developing country, home to the largest number of poor people of any country in the world, and beset by problems of low economic growth, casteism and violent religious conflict. Now India is being feted as an economic power-house which might well become the second largest economy in the world before the middle of this century. Its democratic traditions, moreover, remain broadly intact.How and why has this histor...

India is becoming an increasingly visible, powerful and influential state within the global system. As this rise to prominence continues, better appreciating the interests and principles that structure the international interactions of South Asia’s largest state has never been so important. Keen to embrace an expectant future as a great power, India’s transitional journey has been characterised by astounding diplomatic achievements and significant strategic failures.In this robust ...

When India was invented as a "modern" country in the years after Independence in 1947 it styled itself as a secular, federal, democratic Republic committed to an ideology of development. Nehru's India never quite fulfilled this promise, but more recently his vision of India has been challenged by two "revolts of the elites": those of economic liberalization and Hindu nationalism. These revolts have been challenged, in turn, by various movements, including those of India's "Backward Classes...

The book provides a detailed historically-based analysis of the origin, evolution and potential resolution of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka over the struggle to establish a separate state in its Northern and Eastern provinces. This conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is one of the world’s most intractable contemporary armed struggles. The internationally banned LTTE is considered the prototype of modern terrorism. It is ...

In 1990 Nepal's Peoples Movement reduced King Birendra from an absolute ruler to a constitutional monarch. This book is the first academic analysis of these events and places the 'revolution' of 1990 within the context of Nepali history. Louise Brown examines the background to Nepal's recent upheavals as well as covering the country's ealy history and its continuing problems of national integration. The previous, unsuccessful, democratic experiment and the nature of monarchical rule are di...

In recent decades, India has grown as a global power, and has been able to pursue its own goals in its own way. Negotiating for India's Global Role gives an insightful and integrated analysis of India’s ability to manage its evolving role. Former ambassadors Teresita and Howard Schaffer shine a light on the country’s strategic vision, foreign policy, and the negotiating behavior that links the two.The four concepts woven throughout the book offer an exploration of India to...

Making the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party’s nuclear tests in 1998 its starting point, this book examines how opinion amongst India’s ‘attentive’ public shifted from supporting nuclear abstinence to accepting — and even feeling a need for — a more assertive policy, by examining the complexities of the debate in India on nuclear policy in the 1990s.The study seeks to account for the shift in opinion by looking at the parallel processes of how nuclear policy became an important par...

The Paradox of EU-India Relations: Missed Opportunities in Politics, Economics, Development Cooperation, and Culture, by Shazia Aziz Wülbers, discusses areas where EU-Indian relations are strained and areas where there is meaningful cooperation, and then situates those areas within the broader context of international relations. Wülbers also considers the United States in her study, as much can be learned from comparing EU-India relations with that of the U.S. and India. She addre...

India's party system has undergone a profound transformation over the last decade. The Congress Party, a catch-all party that brought independence in 1947 and governed India for much of the period since then, no longer dominates the electoral scene. Political parties which draw support from particular caste and religious groups are now more powerful than ever before. Democracy Without Associations explains why religious and caste-based political parties come to dominate the electo...

A number of large-scale transformations have shaped the economy, polity and society of India over the past quarter century. This book provides a detailed account of three that are of particular importance: the advent of liberal economic reform, the ascendance of Hindu cultural nationalism, and the empowerment of historically subordinate classes through popular democratic mobilizations.Filling a gap in existing literature, the book goes beyond looking at the transformations in isola...