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2 reviews for:
The Most Dangerous Place: A History of the United States in South Asia
Srinath Raghavan
3.8 AVERAGE
2 reviews for:
The Most Dangerous Place: A History of the United States in South Asia
Srinath Raghavan
3.8 AVERAGE
adikulk93's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of its kind book and a product of the excellent scholarship of the author Srinath Raghavan who happens to be one of India's most prominent contemporary historians and writers on strategic affairs. Although the title indicates that it is the history of the United States in South Asia, the region which consists of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives, the book actually deals with the engagement of the US with respect to only the first three countries in this list who also happen to be the three countries with which the Americans have interacted the most in the region.
In a carefully described narrative built on meticulous research, the author describes the entire history of the US in the region from the days it was a new republic in the 18th century CE to the present era when it is the superpower in the world. How the racial and religious prejudices perpetrated by the American missionaries shaped the view of India in the eyes of the Americans exemplified by the notorious Indophobic book Mother India written by Katherine Mayo. These prejudices played a part in how the Americans interacted with India and Pakistan after 1947.
The book covers the foreign policy of every President from FDR to Obama with respect to the subcontinent and how the administrations of various Presidents interacted with the region. In a stunning but brutally honest assessment, the author notes that not a single American administration till now has dealt with India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan with equal consistency. The book notes how the relations between India and the US have improved after the Cold War and particularly in the presidencies of Bush and Obama.
It is not just the political engagments that are discussed by the author. The cultural, economic, and social aspects to the engagement between the US and the Indian subcontinent are also discussed in detail by the author. Finally, the book ends by providing a brief introduction to the Trump Presidency and how President Trump might deal with the region which has been described by two of his predecessors, Clinton and Obama as "The Most Dangerous Place In The World".
In a carefully described narrative built on meticulous research, the author describes the entire history of the US in the region from the days it was a new republic in the 18th century CE to the present era when it is the superpower in the world. How the racial and religious prejudices perpetrated by the American missionaries shaped the view of India in the eyes of the Americans exemplified by the notorious Indophobic book Mother India written by Katherine Mayo. These prejudices played a part in how the Americans interacted with India and Pakistan after 1947.
The book covers the foreign policy of every President from FDR to Obama with respect to the subcontinent and how the administrations of various Presidents interacted with the region. In a stunning but brutally honest assessment, the author notes that not a single American administration till now has dealt with India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan with equal consistency. The book notes how the relations between India and the US have improved after the Cold War and particularly in the presidencies of Bush and Obama.
It is not just the political engagments that are discussed by the author. The cultural, economic, and social aspects to the engagement between the US and the Indian subcontinent are also discussed in detail by the author. Finally, the book ends by providing a brief introduction to the Trump Presidency and how President Trump might deal with the region which has been described by two of his predecessors, Clinton and Obama as "The Most Dangerous Place In The World".