One fifth of the world's people live in India and Pakistan. Looking back on their first fifty years of independence, leading specialists on South Asia assess their progress and problems, their foreign and defense policies and their relations with the United States. The three coeditors, who compare the achievements of India and Pakistan in a perceptive introductory overview, combine journalistic, diplomatic and academic experience. Selig S. Harrison served as South Asia Bureau Chief of the Washington Post, Paul H. Kreisberg is a former Deputy Chairman of the State Department's Policy Planning Council, and Dennis Kux is a former Director of the India Desk in the State Department.