Kashmir--The Key to Peace in Afghanistan

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and provides an analysis of the impact this conflict has in Afghanistan. It examines why India and Pakistan maintain respective claims over Kashmir, and discusses the problem the United States faces in Afghanistan because of the extension of Indo-Pak rivalry into the Afghan conflict. The thesis analyses the regional rivalry through the lens of offensive realism and explains the impact of regional terrorism that has spawned primarily because of perpetuation of the conflict over Kashmir. The thesis concludes that lasting solution to the Kashmir conflict will allow both India and Pakistan to redeploy valuable diplomatic and military resources elsewhere in the region. This will then enable India and Pakistan to assist the stabilization of Afghanistan on a unified front. The U.S. will not be able to achieve a lasting peace in Afghanistan without the unilateral support of Pakistan and India. If the conflict in Kashmir can be reconciled, this will aid U.S. objectives of a secure Afghanistan.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA580274

Entities

People

  • Patrick J. Larkin

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asia
  • Continents
  • Conventional Warfare
  • Fish
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Social Sciences
  • Sociopolitics
  • South Asia
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies