Brookings Press Blog

The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir

India Abroad interviews author Howard Schaffer

In an interview with India Abroad [pdf], Former ambassador to Bangladesh Howard B. Schaffer explains the limits of America’s influence in the highly disputed Kashmir region since 1947 until today.

Schaffer reveals that America’s role in the Kashmir region during the 1940s to 1960s developed a settlement that was limited, unsuccessful, and focused on crisis-management. He recommends that both India and Pakistan develop strong governments in order for the region to advance considerably. Schaffer adds that the United States might be of assistance only if this is achieved.

“Howard Schaffer’s superb book on Kashmir explains the effect it has had not only on India-Pakistan relations, but also on the Cold War and the growth of radical Islam. The author skillfully uses the historical narrative as a lead-in to the persuasive final chapter on why the Obama administration should take a major role in helping solve the Kashmir dispute,” says Former US envoy to Pakistan, Robert B. Oakley.

Schaffer imparts 36 years of expertise on South Asia into his book, The Limits of Influence, and is currently the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

- Learn more about The Limits of Influence

- Read the India Abroad interview [pdf]

Outrage in Iran: "Which Path to Persia?"

Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran

What do we do about Iran? Over the past thirty years, Washington has produced an unimpressive track record for policies - ranging from undeclared warfare to unilateral concessions - that have largely failed to convince Tehran to drop its support for terrorist groups, the pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, or its wider efforts to overturn the regional status quo. Now the world watches as protests continue to heat up over the apparently rigged elections that have given hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory over reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Available in July, Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran, objectively presents the most important policy options available to the United States in crafting a new strategy toward Iran, including: diplomacy, military, regime change, and containment. The distinguished group of authors, all senior fellows with the Saban Center at Brookings, points out that no one strategy is ideal and that all involve heavy costs, significant risks, and potentially painful tradeoffs.

- Learn more about Which Path to Persia?

Turmoil in Burma

As the military junta's crackdown begins, the U.S. calls for use of "diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom"

Burma's military junta, which is known for its human rights violations—including the restriction of basic freedoms, the persecution of ethnic minorities, and forced child labor—is clashing with Buddhist monks and other peaceful demonstrators. In a scene reminiscent of Burma's student uprising of 1988, which ultimately resulted in bloodshed at the hands of the military, thousands of individuals have taken to the streets to protest the repressive regime.

While there were no reports of violence in the initial weeks of the current protests, the military government announced on Tuesday that a curfew would be imposed. They have since cracked down on protesters, with reported use of tear gas, clubs, and bullets, killing several protesters and arresting hundreds more.

In his speech this week to the United Nations General Assembly, President Bush announced that the United States is placing tighter sanctions on the military junta in Burma, also known as Myanmar, and he called upon other countries to "use their diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom."

In Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations, a new Brookings book edited by Robert I. Rotberg, the authors present an innovative, transparent approach to identifying the world’s most repressive regimes, and setting policy priorities in order to address the injustice that the repressive nations inflict. In her chapter on Burma, Priscilla Clapp, former chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Burma, describes the country as the "poster child for entrenched repression." She explains that "the creation of a stable democracy in Burma will require a total overhaul of government and the development of civil society and the institutions of pluralistic democracy" rather than an abrupt or violent transition, which would ultimately lead to the continuation of authoritative military rule.

For a more detailed analysis of Burma's history and politics, check out Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future, also edited by Rotberg. This book examines the origins and consequences of Burma's policies from military, political, social, and economic perspectives.

- Learn more about Worst of the Worst.

- Learn more about Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future.

(Photo by racoles.  Some rights reserved.)