New south Asian security: six core relations underpinning regional security, by Chris Ogden

Theorising about international relations in South Asia is a daunting task for any scholar of International Relations. The challenge lies in explaining the causal forces behind state behaviour, in order to illuminate a pattern for arriving at an understanding of these relations in a parsimonious manner. While the complexities of South Asian states have often prompted some scholars to use the term ‘security complex’, wherein the security of one state is inextricably linked to that of the other, others have often applied the constructivist paradigm, where ideas, social forces and cultural factors become the primary variables for explaining the significance of ideas informing state behaviour. The book edited by Chris Ogden follows this line of inquiry.