Nuclear weapons and international terrorism dominate headlines around the world. The South Asian subcontinent has both. Not only does it have two nuclear-armed states that have gone to war with each other—India and Pakistan—but it also has the world’s largest concentration of U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S. engagement in the region over the past four decades provides invaluable insight for contending with global threats today.
Former Senator Larry Pressler’s new book, Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent, details prescriptions for improving the formulation of foreign policy and provides the most comprehensive account to date of U.S. policy in the subcontinent from 1974 to present. With the Trump administration’s ongoing review of U.S. foreign policy and the president’s tougher approach to Pakistan and North Korea, this book is particularly relevant today.
To discuss nuclear security around the world and the lessons learned from U.S. relations with India and Pakistan in this dynamic period, Hudson Institute’s South and Central Asia Program held a book launch for Senator Pressler’s Neighbours in Arms on October 25. Fresh off a two-week book tour in India, Senator Pressler gave remarks and took part in a discussion moderated by Ambassador Husain Haqqani, former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and senior fellow and director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute.
“This [book] must act as a guide to policy makers who deal with current challenges including terrorism so that they don’t end up with a solution that is dangerous than the problem.” -Vargese K. George, The Hindu
