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| Chairs: | Marshall M. Bouton Nicholas Platt Frank G. Wisner, External Affairs, AIG Inc. |
|---|---|
| Directors: | Mahnaz Ispahani, Former Senior Fellow for South and West Asia Dennis Kux |
Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations Press
Release Date: October 2003
105 pages
ISBN 087609339X
$15.00
Task Force Report No. 49
South Asia may be halfway around the globe from the United States, but what happens there—as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda tragically underscored—can affect all Americans. After the terrorist attacks and the massing of one million troops on the borders of nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in 2001, the critical importance of South Asia to global and U.S. national security is clear. Securing a moderate Muslim state in Pakistan, consolidating and deepening increasingly important U.S.-India ties, actively encouraging peaceful relations between India and Pakistan, and ensuring an Afghanistan in which terrorists can never again find shelter must be foreign policy priorities for the United States.
This chairmen’s report of the independent Task Force on new priorities in South Asia assesses the strengths and weaknesses of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and recommends how U.S. policy can best take advantage of the opportunities while addressing the dangers that are present. The challenge to U.S. policy over the medium term is to design and implement a stable and sustained approach that will solidify bilateral ties with key countries in the region and give the United States an opportunity to influence major regional developments.
The report urges new initiatives to solidify the partnership with an economically and militarily stronger India; carefully calibrated support for Pakistan’s efforts to become a moderate Muslim state; a more active, facilitative U.S. role in the volatile Kashmir conflict; a new framework for—and a close watch on—proliferation issues in the region; and redoubled support for the Hamid Karzai government’s security initiatives in Afghanistan.
DAVID D. ARNOLD, American University in Cairo
HARRY G. BARNES JR., Asia Society
RAENU BAROD, Barger and Wolen LLP
BRUCE G. BLAIR, Center for Defense Information
JOHN E. CARBAUGH JR.
MAYA CHADDA, William Paterson University
PURNENDU CHATTERJEE, The Chatterjee Group
LINCOLN CHEN, Harvard University
JOSEPH CIRINICIONE, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
MICHAEL T. CLARK, U.S.-India Business Council
STEPHEN PHILIP COHEN, The Brookings Institution
W. BOWMAN CUTTER, Warburg Pincus
FLORENCEA DAVIS, The Starr Foundation
ROHIT M. DESAI, Desai Capital Management Inc.
BENEDICT F. FITZGERALD, Independent Consultant
FRANCINE R. FRANKEL, University of Pennsylvania
BARRY D. GABERMAN, The Ford Foundation
SUMIT GANGULY, Indiana University, Bloomington
LARRY P. GOODSON, U.S. Army War College
ROBERT M. HATHAWAY, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
KARL F. INDERFURTH, George Washington University
RODNEY W. JONES, Policy Architects International
FAROOQ KATHWARI, Kashmir Study Group
CHARLES R. KAYE, Warburg Pincus
MICHAEL KREPON, The Henry L. Stimson Center
DAVID T. MCLAUGHLIN, The Aspen Institute
SREEDHAR MENON, Viteos Technologies Limited
JOHN MEROW, Sullivan and Cromwell LLP
POLLY NAYAK, independent consultant and Abraxas Corporation
ARVIND PANAGARIYA, University of Maryland at College Park
GEORGE PERKOVICH, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
DANIEL PONEMAN, Forum for International Policy
PHILIP OLDENBURG
IMRAN RIFFAT, JP Morgan Investment Bank
PATRICIA L. ROSENFIELD, Carnegie Corporation of New York
BARNETT R. RUBIN, New York University
GEORGE RUPP, The International Rescue Committee
NAFIS SADIK, United Nations
PURNA R. SAGGURTI
HENRY SCHACHT, Lucent Technologies
HOWARD SCHAFFER, Georgetown University
TERESITA C. SCHAFFER, Center for Strategic and International Studies
LAWRENCE SCHEINMAN, Monterey Institute of International Studies
JED SNYDER, CNA Corporation
KATHY SREEDHAR, UU Holdeen India Fund
S. FREDERICK STARR, Central Asia and Caucasus Institute, SAIS
AJOY VACHHER, The Astor Group
ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DAVID F.WOLF, Fremont Group
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