Jonah Blank

Ensuring military access to the territory of allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific in the event of a future conflict with China is a critical concern for U.S. policymakers. By looking at five specific allies and partners, the authors explore how states are likely to approach access requests, what factors influence such decisions, and what peacetime policy levers the United States might have to increase the likelihood of access in conflict.

In this study, RAND researchers examined the current role of security cooperation efforts as a tool in the emerging strategic competition among the United States, Russia, and China. In particular, they sought to identify how, where, and to what degree the three major competitors?plus Australia, Japan, India, and several countries in Europe?are using security cooperation.

The U.S. National Security Strategy focuses on the expectation of a new era of growing international competition that the United States is expected to confront. The authors examine the nature of the emerging era, assess the perspectives of 16 countries (beginning with the primary challengers to the U.S.-led order), and evaluate various characteristics for each.

To gain a better understanding of how foreign infrastructure investment in Myanmar may affect local communities, RAND researchers conducted a survey of 250 residents of communities near the Dawei Special Economic Zone. A portion of area inhabitants viewed the project as bringing more harm than good. However, an overwhelming majority favored trying to solve the project's problems rather than terminate it altogether.

The U.S. Department of Defense's 2018 National Defense Strategy highlights the importance of working with regional allies and partners in order to manage China's rise as a strategic competitor to the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. In this country-level report in a series, the author examines the potential for, and potential impediments to, partnering more closely with Indonesia.

In long-term strategic competition with China, how effectively the United States works with allies and partners will be critical to determining U.S. success. The authors of this report define U.S.-China competition for influence and assess relative U.S.-Chinese influence in nine countries across the Indo-Pacific to gain insight into how the United States could work more effectively with allies and partners in Southeast Asia and beyond.

As U.S. military action in Afghanistan stabilizes below its peak levels, the U.S.-Pakistan security relationship will enter a new phase. Formulating a strategy for future engagement requires a deep understanding of Pakistan's security imperatives: the factors that determine what partnership types are realistic, and the geopolitical and historical forces that shape Pakistan's cooperation with the United States. This report examines such factors.

This report presents findings from an examination of six historical case studiesa "in Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda, and Yemena "in which the mission of special operations forces in each of the six countries transitioned over time to include some level of inclusion in the U.S. embassya (TM)s Security Cooperation Office, with a focus on what lessons these experiences offer for the transition of SOF in Afghanistan.

The Leahy laws prohibit U.S. assistance to foreign security forces that have perpetuated gross violations of human rights. This report analyzes the vetting process that helps the Department of Defense--in close collaboration with the Department of State--to implement these laws and recommends improvements. The report should help strengthen DoD's ability to implement the laws effectively.

India s core goals for Southeast Asia are in basic harmony with those of the United States, including regional stability, peaceful settlement of territorial disputes, and containment of radicalism Still, America should not expect India to enter any sort of alliance, nor join any coalition to balance against China, but should demonstrate strategic patience and willingness to cultivate a long-term relationship."

Pakistan is already one of the most urbanized nations in South Asia, and a majority of its population is projected to be living in cities within three decades. This demographic shift is likely to have a significant impact on Pakistan s politics and stability. This report briefly examines urbanization as a potential driver of long-term insecurity and instability, with particular attention to the cities of Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta."

The values of traditionalist Islam are often portrayed as inherently hostile to those of a modern, pluralistic society. This book shatters many of these stereotypes. Jonah Blank provides a first-hand account of the Daudi Bohra community, a Shi'a denomination numbering 1 million, concentrated in South Asia but spread worldwide. This society has no contradiction between Islamic traditions and full-fledged modernity. The Bohras uphold orthodox Muslim practices, such as in prayer and dress, while at the same time embracing aspects of modern culture not in direct conflict with their core beliefs. They send their children, of both genders, abroad for education, exhibit greater gender equality than most of the communities of the Indian sub-continent, and have become Internet pioneers, uniting members around the world. This volume shows how a premodern clerical elite has embraced modernity, not rejected it.

An examination of the origins of India's three-thousand-year-old epic recounts the story of the Ramayana as it leads the reader along Rama's route through the India of today, visiting the battlefield of Lanka and the birthplace of Ayodhya. Reprint.