Introduction to South Asian Politics

South Asia is not just home to the world's fastest growing economy (India), it is also a region that continues to face significant security and development challenges, with some of the longest running interstate conflicts (between India and Pakistan for instance), and severe poverty and inequality across countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. What accounts for the variation in security and development outcomes across and within these countries? Why are some of them better able to ensure peace and security and basic service delivery than others? This course proposes an overview of the politics of South Asia as a regional security complex, starting with the colonial legacies of state building in the region, but also looking at the impact of economic reforms and the changing international environment since the end of the Cold War and the rise of India and China as a global powers.