Cruise Missiles in South Asia: Implications for Regional Strategic Stability

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Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Volume 13, Issue 1

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Cruise Missiles in South Asia: Implications for Regional Strategic Stability

research-article

Author(s): Kulsoom Belal

Publication date (Print): 2016

Journal: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Cruise Missiles, South Asia, Strategic Stability, Deterrence Stability, Crisis Stability, Arms Race Stability

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Abstract

In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in cruise missiles in India and Pakistan. A characteristic counterforce weapon with high speed and precision, stealth capabilities and multiple launch platforms, cruise missiles are linked to the preemptive capabilities of a state; an antithesis to mutual vulnerability important to maintain nuclear deterrence. However, like any other weapon, they cannot be neatly described as either weapon for offense for first strike or weapon for defense in second strike. This makes it imperative to study the implications of the cruise missiles of Pakistan and India on strategic stability. The paper is divided into three parts; the first part studies the characteristics of cruise missile and builds a theoretical framework to understand how counterforce systems like cruise missiles impact strategic stability between two states. The second part studies the impact of cruise missiles in South Asia on regional strategic stability from three aspects: deterrence stability, crisis stability and arms race stability. In the third part, the conclusion, it is found that while the dynamics of deterrence stability and crisis stability are not affected by cruise missiles, it proves to be destabilizing for arms race. Cruise missiles in South Asia reinforce the cyclic dynamics of offense and defense, prompting both countries to invest in their security, which on the long run will impinge on deterrence stability and crisis stability between the two countries.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): polipers

Title: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 18121829

ISSN (Electronic): 18127347

Publication date (Print): 2016

Volume: 13

Issue: 1

Pages: 115-134

Affiliations

Ms. Kulsoom Belal is Assistant Research Coordinator at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad.

Article

Publisher ID: polipers.13.1.0115

DOI: 10.13169/polipers.13.1.0115

SO-VID: e1452490-cd1a-4d55-857d-081f463a36be

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Education,Religious studies & Theology,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,Economics

Keywords: Arms Race Stability,Crisis Stability,Deterrence Stability,Strategic Stability,South Asia,Cruise Missiles

Bibliography

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Acton, James M. Silver Buller? Asking the Right Questions about Conventional Prompt Global Strike . Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2013.

[2] Akram, Zamir. “Kashmir Dispute: Is there a Viable Solution.” Criterion Quarterly 2, no. 4 (2013).

[3] Alagappa, Muthiah. The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century . Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.

[4] Bennett, Bruce, and James Foster. “Retaliation Against the Soviet Homeland.” In Cruise Missiles: Technology, Strategy, Politics , edited by Richard K. Betts. Washington DC: The Brookings Institution, 1981.

[5] Betts, Richard K. “Innovation, Assessment, and Decision.” In Cruise Missiles: Technology, Strategy, Politics , edited by Richard K. Betts. Washington DC: The Brookings Institution, 1981.

[6] Bowen, John T. The Poor Man's Air Force: Implications of the Evolving Cruise Missile Threat . Pennsylvania: US Army War College, 1997.

[7] Bukhari, Shahid Hussain. “India-United States Strategic Partnership: Implications for Pakistan.” Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences 1, no. 1 (2011).

[8] Cheema, Zafar Iqbal. Indian Nuclear Deterrence . Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010.

[9] Cheema, Zafar Iqbal. “Pakistan's Nuclear Use Doctrine and Command and Control.” In Planning the Unthinkable , by Peter Lavoy, Scott Sagan and Jams Wirtz. Ithaca. New York: Cornell University Press, 2000.

[10] Cheema, Zafar Iqbal. “Pakistan's Posture of Credible Minimum Deterrence.” In Nuclear Pakistan: Strategic Dimensions , edited by Zulfqar Khan. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2012.

[11] Dalton, Toby, and Jaclyn Tandler. Understanding the Arms Race in South Asia . The Carnegie Nuclear Policy Papers, Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2012.

[12] Evera, Stephen Van. “Offense, Defense and Causes of War.” International Security 22, no. 4 (1998).

[13] “Explaining Nuclear Force Level: A Literature Review.” Politcial Science Junior Qual . Brian Brooks, 2007.

[14] Freedman, Lawrence. The Revolution in Strategic Affairs . London: Oxford University Press, 1998.

[15] Gilboy, George, and Eric Heginbotham. Chinese and Indian Strategic Behavior . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

[16] Gormley, Dennis. “Dealing with the Threat of Cruise Missiles.” The Adelphi Papers (The Adelphi Papers) 41, no. 339 (2001).

[17] Harvey, Frank P. “The Future of Strategic Stability and Nuclear Deterrence.” International Journal 58, no. 2 (Spring 2003).

[18] Herz, John H. “Idealist Internationalism and Security Dilemma.” World Politics 2, no. 2 (1950).

[19] Huisken, Ronal. The Origins of Strategic Cruise Missiles . New York: Praeger Publishers, 1981.

[20] Jaspal, Zafar Nawaz. “The Introduction of Ballistic Missile Defense in South Asia: Implications for Strategic Stability.” In Nuclear Learning in South Asia: The Next Decade , edited by Feroz Hassan Khan, Ryan Jacobs and Emily Burke. Naval Postgraduate School, 2014.

[21] Jervis, Robert. “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma.” World Politics 30, no. 2 (1978).

[22] Kemburi, Kalyan. Cruise Missiles in Southern Asia: Strategic Implications for China, India and Pakistan . Project on Nuclear Issues, CSIS, August 2012.

[23] Kemburi, Kalyan. Diffusion of High-Speed Cruise Missiles in Asia: Strategic and Operational Challenges. Policy Briefs, RSiS, 2014.

[24] Khan, Feroz Hasan. Eating Bomb: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb . Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2013.

[25] Kissinger, Henry. American Foreign Policy . New York: W. W. Norton, 1974.

[26] Kokoshin, Andrei. Ensuring Strategic Stability in the Past and the Present: Theoretical and Applied Questions . Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2011.

[27] Kristensen, Hans M, and Robert Norris. “Pakistan's Nuclear Forces, 2011.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 67, no. 4 (2011).

[28] Kronstadt, K Alan. Indo-US Relations . Congressional Research Service Report, 2009.

[29] Ladwig, Walter C. “Delhi's Pacific Ambitions: Naval Power, “Look East,” and India's Emerging Influence in the Asia Pacific.” Asian Security 5, no. 2 (2009).

[30] Matinuddin, Kamal. The Nuclearization of South Asia . Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002.

[31] Mian, Zia. “Fissile Material in South Asia and the Implications of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.” Science and Global Quarterly 14 (2006).

[32] Mishra, Sitakanta. “Crusie Missiles in South Asia: Strategic Implications.” In Asian Defence Review . New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2013.

[33] Mishra, Sitakanta. Crusie Missiles: Evolution, Proliferation and Future . New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2011.

[34] Mishra, Sitakanta. Missile Contagion: Cruise Missile Proliferation and the Threat to Internaitonal Security . Westport: Praeger Security International, 2008.

[35] Quinlain, Michael. “Thinknig about Nuclear Weapons.” RUSI Whitehall Paper, no. 41 (2005).

[36] Rais, Rasul Bakhsh. “Resolving the Kashmir Dispute: Bending Realism with Justice.” The Pakistan Development Review 48, no. 4 (2009).

[37] Ranger, Robin, Humphry Crum Ewing, David Weincek, and David Boset. “Cruise Missiles: New Threat, New Thinknig.” Comparative Strategy 14, no. 3 (1995).

[38] Schelling, Thomas C, and Morton H Halperin. Strategy and Arms Control . New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1961.

[39] Tanks, David. “Assessing the Cruise Missile Puzzle: How Great a Defense Challenge?” The Institute of Foreign Poicy Analysis http://www.ifpa.org/pdf/CM200/CM_Report.pdf.

[40] Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics . Boston: McGraw Hills, 1979.

[41] Yamin, Tughral. The Evolution of Nuclear Deterrence in South Asia . Islamabad: The Army Press, 2014.

[42] Yusuf, Moeed. “Deterrence and Crisis Stability: Current Prognosis and Future Prospects.” US Pakistan Strategic Partnership: A Track II Dialogue , Sixth Iteration. Center on Contemporary Conflict, Naval Postgraduate School, 2012.