The independent resource on global security

Military Capacity and the Risk of War: China, India, Pakistan and Iran

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Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN 0-19-829281-3
367 pp.
1997

When does the legitimate application of military technology to the problem of national defence become needlessly provocative? What obstacles must developing countries overcome if they hope to use military technology effectively? And when might military technology itself become a cause of conflict? This book addresses these questions in the context of four particularly important states: China, India, Pakistan and Iran. Military Capacity and the Risk of War represents the effort of a unique group to put aside unhelpful national rhetoric as well as conventional academic thinking. Contributions from Iran give a valuable insight into the emergent viewpoints in that country, as well as the opportunities for arms control and confidence building in the Persian Gulf. Chapters on topics of military and technological interest combine the expertise of natural scientists, military professionals and social scientists specializing in cultural aspects of technology transfer.

 

 

Key findings:

 

Contents

1. Beyond threat perception: assessing military capacity and reducing the risk of war in southern Asia
Eric Arnett

 

2. Threat perception and military planning in China: domestic instability and the importance of prestige
Di Hua
Appendix 2A. Russian weapons and military technologies of interest to the PLA
Di Hua

 

3. Military technology and doctrine in Chinese military planning: compensating for obsolescence
Paul H. B. Godwin

 

4. Chinese military capacity: industrial and operational weaknesses
Norman Friedman

 

5. Arms procurement in China: poorly understood processes and unclear results
Wendy Frieman

 

6. Military technology and absorptive capacity in China and India: implications for modernization
Erik Baark

 

7. Arms procurement in India: military self-reliance versus technological self-sufficiency
Raju G. C. Thomas

 

8. Threat perception and military planning in Pakistan: the impact of technology, doctrine and arms control
Ross Masood Husain

 

9. Arms procurement in Pakistan: balancing the needs for quality, self-reliance and diversity of supply
Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema

 

10. Arms production in Iran and Pakistan: the limits of self-reliance
Yezid Sayigh

 

11. Threat perception and military planning in Iran: credible scenarios of conflict and opportunities for confidence building
Saideh Lotfian

 

12. Iranian science and technology: implications of ideology and the experience of war for military research and development
Ahmed Hashim

 

13. Arms procurement in Iran: ad hoc decision making and ambivalent decision makers
Shahram Chubin

 

14. Military research and development in southern Asia: limited capabilities despite impressive resources
Eric Arnett

 

15. Arms exports to southern Asia: policies of technology transfer and denial in the supplier countries
Ian Anthony

 

16. Maritime forces and stability in southern Asia
Eric Grove

 

17. Technology, civil-military relations and warfare in southern Asia
Stephen Biddle and Robert Zirkle