December 3rd, 2008
Interview With South Asia Expert Howard B. Schaffer on America’s Role in the Aftermath of the 11/26 Mumbai Terror Attack
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Earlier today, I interviewed South Asia expert Howard B. Schaffer on America’s role in the aftermath of the 11/26 Mumbai terror attack.
Howard B. Schaffer has spent much of his 36-year career dealing with U.S. relations with South Asia, including a stint as ambassador to Bangladesh. He has recently finished writing a book on America’s role in Kashmir, titled ‘The Limits of Influence’, which will be published by the Brookings Institute early next year. He is now the Deputy Director at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In a 23 minute interview, we spoke about the history of America’s role in the Indian sub-continent and how it is likely to change in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack.
Ambassador Schaffer believes that we will have a replay of the escalation in tension between India and Pakistan we saw in 2002 after the attack on the Indian parliament and international pressure will mount on Pakistan to take definitive action against Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, given the transitional government in United States, a weak government in Pakistan, and an end of term government in India, no decisive action is likely to be taken by any of the three governments.
