The Difficult Politics of Peace

This book is written chronologically across eight chapters, spanning the creation of the partition in 1947 to the recent Modi and Khan leadership pairing...Clary's detailed focus on the impact of these factors throughout the entire history of the two nations makes this book a useful addition to any collection on South Asian conflict studies. * Choice *
Clary's provocative new theory to explain the oscillations in India-Pakistan ties between peacebuilding and warmaking is a remarkable contribution to the field of international relations. Grounded in the history, domestic politics and geopolitics of South Asia over the past seven decades, this forensic examination is bound to challenge conventional wisdom and traditional arguments about the subcontinent. * Sushant Singh, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research & visiting lecturer, Yale University *
By focusing on domestic politics and developing a theory of leader primacy—how leaders control foreign policy authority—The Difficult Politics of Peace sheds new light on when rivalries are more peaceful, and when they are more conflictual. This book deserves to be widely read, for its illuminating, careful study of the India-Pakistan rivalry, and for its insights into the domestic politics of war and peace. * Elizabeth N. Saunders, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University *
Theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich, The Difficult Politics of Peace is an outstanding analysis of the long rivalry between India and Pakistan. This carefully and closely argued account challenges and revises much of the received wisdom on the sources of cooperation as well as conflict in the subcontinent. * Srinath Raghavan, author of Fierce Enigmas: A History of the United States in South Asia *
This is a spectacular book. It is empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated. Clary successfully debunks the age-old typification of the India-Pakistan rivalry as an 'unending' conflict. He clearly shows how and why leaders in both South Asian countries made choices about peace-making efforts, not just as a temporary measure between wars, but those with unique motivational characteristics. This excellent book will appeal to not only those interested in the history and politics of South Asia, but to any reader of war and peace in the modern world. * Rudra Chaudhuri, Director, Carnegie India *