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Contested Lands
The search for durable peace in lands torn by ethno-national conflict is among the most urgent issues of international politics. Looking closely at five flashpoints of regional crisis, Sumantra Bose asks the question upon which our global future may how can peace be made, and kept, between warring groups with seemingly incompatible claims? Global in scope and implications but local in focus and method, Contested Lands critically examines the recent or current peace processes in Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka for an answer. Israelis and Palestinians, Turkish and Greek Cypriots, Bosnia's Muslims, Serbs, and Croats, Sinhalese and Tamil Sri Lankans, and pro-independence, pro-Pakistan, and pro-India Kashmiris share homelands scarred by clashing aspirations and war. Bose explains why these lands became zones of zero-sum conflict and boldly tackles the question of how durable peace can be achieved. The cases yield important general insights about the benefits of territorial self-rule, cross-border linkages, regional cooperation, and third-party involvement, and the risks of a deliberately gradual ("incremental") strategy of peace-building. Rich in narrative and incisive in analysis, this book takes us deep into the heartlands of conflict--Jerusalem, Kashmir's Line of Control, the divided cities of Mostar in Bosnia and Nicosia in Cyprus, Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula. Contested Lands illuminates how chronic confrontation can yield to compromise and coexistence in the world's most troubled regions--and what the United States can do to help.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2007
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About the author
Sumantra Bose
16 books11 followersSumantra Bose is an Indian politician scientist and professor of international and comparative politics at the London School of Economics. He specialises in the study of ethnic and national conflicts and their management, with a particular focus on the Indian subcontinent and the former Yugoslavia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 18, 2022
Disappointed
I am a bit disappointed since this book painted the picture that only the Jahajins and their descendants who converted to Christianity in Trinidad prospered. This is not true because I know of many families who never entertained the idea of conversion and their descendants have prospered. My great grandparents and my grandparents did not convert, neither did my parents or my generation if siblings and we all prospered in life.
I am a bit disappointed since this book painted the picture that only the Jahajins and their descendants who converted to Christianity in Trinidad prospered. This is not true because I know of many families who never entertained the idea of conversion and their descendants have prospered. My great grandparents and my grandparents did not convert, neither did my parents or my generation if siblings and we all prospered in life.
August 13, 2022
"And at that moment it suddenly came to me, as clear as the sky, that I was never going back, that I would live and die across the kala pani."
Loved the book. It's the story of a woman who migrates from Bihar to "Chini(sugar in Hindi)-dad", or Trinidad as it was known to the girmitiyas who went there to work on the sugarcane fields. The author, an Indian-origin Trinidadian interviews old jahajins (or people who came on the boats) for their stories as part of her linguistic work, and soon sees her own history in their stories. The character of Deeda, a hundred year old jahajin is key here; not only does the book tell her whole story, but she also narrates an old folk tale of Saranga and her lover and "what the wily princess has to do to try and be with him. The folk tale and Deeda's narrative provide a backdrop of women's voices to the whole book, this also ends up being an oral/folk history account. My own problem with it is that the author seems to have made Deeda a composite character of a lot of people she interviewed, so it's unclear whether the story is of her life only or many people's stories. Fact or fictional? You'll just have to take the book at face value.
Howevre, the mythical tale, Deeda's crossing and the author's own dilemmas make for wonderful reading. The stories of Indian immigrants to places like Africa and the West Indies hasn't been read enough and this is a great start.
Loved the book. It's the story of a woman who migrates from Bihar to "Chini(sugar in Hindi)-dad", or Trinidad as it was known to the girmitiyas who went there to work on the sugarcane fields. The author, an Indian-origin Trinidadian interviews old jahajins (or people who came on the boats) for their stories as part of her linguistic work, and soon sees her own history in their stories. The character of Deeda, a hundred year old jahajin is key here; not only does the book tell her whole story, but she also narrates an old folk tale of Saranga and her lover and "what the wily princess has to do to try and be with him. The folk tale and Deeda's narrative provide a backdrop of women's voices to the whole book, this also ends up being an oral/folk history account. My own problem with it is that the author seems to have made Deeda a composite character of a lot of people she interviewed, so it's unclear whether the story is of her life only or many people's stories. Fact or fictional? You'll just have to take the book at face value.
Howevre, the mythical tale, Deeda's crossing and the author's own dilemmas make for wonderful reading. The stories of Indian immigrants to places like Africa and the West Indies hasn't been read enough and this is a great start.
July 25, 2011
As a Trinidadian of non-Indian ancestry I have always been fascinated by the link that history has forged between my country and India. After visiting India myself, I can say with confidence that this book is one that all Trinis need to read and enjoy. It is simply packed with facts that we've always wondered about. Yes, the facts are there to be researched, but thank you Ms Mohan for distilling them into this very intriguing and readable book. I was truly sad when I came to the end. And cannot wait for Ms Mohan's next work.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews