The global security challenges after the post-Cold war period has affected many countries. Pakistan’s geography and location present its security planners with serious, almost irresolvable strategic and tactical problems. It borders the nuclear states of India and China, an ambitious Iran, and an unstable Afghanistan, which is perceived as a gateway to its commercial-strategic ambitions in Central Asia. Pakistan’s key security problems are a reflection of its history and domestic circumstances. The overriding concern of Pakistan is its internal and external security. Strategically, Pakistan lacks territorial depth. Its main cities and communication routes are relatively close to the border with India and are susceptible to attack. In addition, the headwaters of Pakistan’s rivers and main irrigation systems originate from India. Pakistan’s borders with India were also new and mainly unfortified and, in many places, were drawn in ways that made them indefensible. Because the borders were also un-demarcated, there was abundant chance for conflict. Pakistan has particularly been affected with a number of issues. It has been argued by many that a Fourth generation/Hybrid war has been imposed on Pakistan, in order to break the nation (Balkanization of Pakistan into different parts) with the aim of making it either extremely weak or total destruction as a nation state (so that it is not able to challenge the hegemonistic ambitions of its adversaries).The purpose of this book is to assess the military security problems that Pakistan faces, and focus on its external security matters (military threats from neighbouring countries such as India, balance of power in the region, nuclear and ballistic missile threats, relationship with external powers, the high risk of war and its role on the ‘War on Terror’), and its internal security problems (sectarianism, proliferation of small arms, refugees, ethnic violence, drug problem, economic weaknesses), and also its ability to cope with these problems.

This in-depth study of U.S. involvement in the modern Middle East carefully weighs the interplay of domestic, cultural, religious, diplomatic, international, and military events in one of the world's most troubled regions. The monumental, five-volume The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts is a must-have resource for anyone seeking to comprehend U.S. actions in this volatile region. Under the expert editorship of Spencer C. Tucker, the encyclopedia traces 20th- and 21st-century U.S. involvement in the Middle East and south-central Asia, concentrating on the last three decades. Beginning with the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, it covers the 1979–1989 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, allied punitive actions against Iraq during the 1990s, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and the Global War on Terror. Many smaller military actions against Iran, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and other regimes that have been involved in international terrorism are also included. Diplomacy, religion as it pertains to Middle East conflict, and social/cultural developments are other key subjects of analysis, as is the interplay of politics with military policy in the United States and other nations involved in the region.

Presents an A-to-Z reference guide that examines United States foreign policy.

The Gulf War has highlighted the dangers of the Middle East arms race. Unless measures are taken to control further weapons proliferation, a new arms race, and possibly another war are likely. Recognizing this danger, President Bush has made arms control one of his key policy priorities for the region.