This book focuses on the developments in post 2014 Afghanistan with external military support from the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. It discusses topical themes such as the withdrawal of US troops and non-traditional security.

Post-colonial and post-partition South Asia, one of the fastest-growing and yet one of the least integrated regions of the world, is marked by both optimism and pessimism. This intriguing dichotomy of strength and weakness, security and insecurity, hope and fear, connections and disconnects underpins South Asia’s regionalism conundrum and gives birth to borders and boundaries – both material and mental – with a complex territoriality. The Janus-faced nature of South Asian borderlands – the inward nationalizing impulses entangled with the outward regional frontier-orientations – is a stark reminder that history of mobility in this eco-geographical region is much older than the history of territoriality and colonial cartography and ethnography. This collection of meticulously researched, theoretically informed, case studies from South Asia provides useful insights into bordering, ordering and othering narratives as practices and performances that are intricately entangled with identity politics and security discourses. It shows how a sharper focus on subterranean subregionalism(s), border communities, popular geopolitics of enmity, and transborder challenges to sustainability, could open up spaces for new multiple (re)imaginings of borders at diverse scales and sights including sub-urban neighbourhoods, school textbooks/cinema and trans-border conservation initiatives. The chapters in this edited volume have been contributed by both renowned as well as young emerging scholars, looking into the borders and boundaries in South Asia. Each chapter offers new perspectives and insights into themes like trans-Himalayan borderlands, India-Pakistan physical and mental borders, Afghanistan-Pakistan border and numerous social boundaries that we see in everyday South Asia. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Borderlands Studies.

This book presents a radical rethinking of Border Studies. Framing the discipline beyond conventional topics of spatiality and territoriality, it presents a distinctly South Asian perspective - a post-colonial and post-partition region where most borders were drawn with political motives, ignoring the socio-cultural realities of the region and economic necessities of the people. The authors argue that while securing borders is an essential function of the state, in this interconnected world, crossing borders and border cooperation is also necessary. The book examines contemporaneous and topical themes like disputes of identity and nationhood, the impact of social media on Border Studies, trans-border cooperation, water-sharing between countries, and resolution of border problems in the age of liberalisation and globalisation. It also suggests ways of enhancing cross-border economic cooperation and connectivity, and reviews security issues from a new perspective. Well supplemented with case studies, the book will serve as an indispensable text for scholars and researchers of Border Studies, military and strategic studies, international relations, geopolitics, and South Asian studies. It will also be of great interest to think tanks and government agencies, especially those dealing with foreign relations.

This book presents a radical rethinking of Border Studies. Framing the discipline beyond conventional topics of spatiality and territoriality, it presents a distinctly South Asian perspective - a post-colonial and post-partition region where most borders were drawn with political motives, ignoring the socio-cultural realities of the region and economic necessities of the people. The authors argue that while securing borders is an essential function of the state, in this interconnected world, crossing borders and border cooperation is also necessary. The book examines contemporaneous and topical themes like disputes of identity and nationhood, the impact of social media on Border Studies, trans-border cooperation, water-sharing between countries, and resolution of border problems in the age of liberalisation and globalisation. It also suggests ways of enhancing cross-border economic cooperation and connectivity, and reviews security issues from a new perspective. Well supplemented with case studies, the book will serve as an indispensable text for scholars and researchers of Border Studies, military and strategic studies, international relations, geopolitics, and South Asian studies. It will also be of great interest to think tanks and government agencies, especially those dealing with foreign relations.

Post-colonial and post-partition South Asia, one of the fastest-growing and yet one of the least integrated regions of the world, is marked by both optimism and pessimism. This intriguing dichotomy of strength and weakness, security and insecurity, hope and fear, connections and disconnects underpins South Asia's regionalism conundrum and gives birth to borders and boundaries - both material and mental - with a complex territoriality. The Janus-faced nature of South Asian borderlands - the inward nationalizing impulses entangled with the outward regional frontier-orientations - is a stark reminder that history of mobility in this eco-geographical region is much older than the history of territoriality and colonial cartography and ethnography. This collection of meticulously researched, theoretically informed, case studies from South Asia provides useful insights into bordering, ordering and othering narratives as practices and performances that are intricately entangled with identity politics and security discourses. It shows how a sharper focus on subterranean subregionalism(s), border communities, popular geopolitics of enmity, and transborder challenges to sustainability, could open up spaces for new multiple (re)imaginings of borders at diverse scales and sights including sub-urban neighbourhoods, school textbooks/cinema and trans-border conservation initiatives. The chapters in this edited volume have been contributed by both renowned as well as young emerging scholars, looking into the borders and boundaries in South Asia. Each chapter offers new perspectives and insights into themes like trans-Himalayan borderlands, India-Pakistan physical and mental borders, Afghanistan-Pakistan border and numerous social boundaries that we see in everyday South Asia. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Borderlands Studies.

Owing to its geo-strategic location and mineral wealth, Afghanistan has acquired significance in the inter-state politics of Asia as well as world politics during the past decades. This book outlines Afghanistan's efforts to build a stable and peaceful democratic polity, with external military support from the United States and its NATO allies. It also analyses the nation's development initiatives with major powers such as India, the United States, Russia and Germany. The volume: * brings to the fore ongoing tensions within the Afghan polity and its continued impact on Asian/world politics; * discusses topical themes such as withdrawal of US troops and non-traditional security; and * presents perspectives from scholars and experts from around the world, including Afghans. This work will be useful to scholars and researchers in political science, international relations, sociology, area studies, and the interested general reader.

The present endeavour is a synthesis of two different choices: the theoretical assumption of Phenomenological Criticism and R.K. Narayan's novels which are replete with the concepts of Phenomenology. Phenomenology, as a philosophy, has a very wide spectrum but the present work confines its range only to the literary domain of the philosophy commonly represented by Geneva Critics or Critics of Consciousness with the overtones of philosophers like Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. This effort examines ten out of total fifteen novels penned by R.K. Narayan. Swami and Friends (1935), The Bachelor of Arts (1937), The Dark Room (1938), The English Teacher (1945), The Financial Expert (1952), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1962), and The Painter of Signs (1978) are touched upon in this book.

Development policy of the European Union (EU) is just not confined to the development assistance programme dedicated purely for philanthropic purposes but has wider dimensions attached to it; It is one of the most imperative instrument of the European foreign policy and determines its relationship with the developing countries. This implies equally to the EUSouth Asia engagements, which evolved to third generation relationship from simple first generation commercial cooperation agreements. For analysing contemporary linkages of the EU with different South Asian countries, it is crucial to comprehend the role of development policy in South Asia. This book not only focuses on the development policy but also an effort is made to evaluate its relevance, impact and implications. As it is said 'To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive and the true success is to labour'. This book is also an outcome of 4/5 years of intense research on the subject. It will help the students of European studies since there is not enough literature available on the subject. It is a good reader for policy makers dealing with the development policy of the European Union. This book is also useful for South Asians associated with Non-government Organisations (NGOs) and voluntary groups, which are working in collaboration with the European Union.