Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. The Historical and Political Background of the Crisis: 1. The roots of crisis: post-Kargil conflict in Kashmir and the 2001-2002 near-war / Praveen Swami; 2. Understanding the political-military context of the 2002 military standoff: a Pakistani perspective / Zafar Jaspal -- Part II. The Conventional Military Environment: 3. Military dimension of the 2002 India-Pakistan standoff: planning and preparation for land operations / Gurmeet Kanwal -- Part III. Managing the Nuclear Environment: 4. What was done to achieve strategic stability during the Cold War? Lessons South Asia? / Michael O. Wheeler; 5. Pakistan's nuclear force posture and the 2001-2002 military standoff / Feroz Hassan Khan -- Part IV. Outside Actors and Crisis Resolution: The United States' Role: 6. U.S. crisis management in South Asia'ss Twin Peaks Crisis / Polly Nayak and Michael Krepon; 7. The 2001-2002 crisis: a real-time view from Islamabad / David Smith -- Part V. Avoiding Future Crises: 8. Arms control, confidence building and nuclear risk reduction: a Pakistani perspective / Naeem Ahmad Salik -- Conclusion: lessons learned and unlearned / Zachary S. Davis.

"This book focuses on the 2001-2002 crisis that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Like the 1999 Kashmir crisis and the 2008 Mumbai crisis, the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament set in motion events that nearly spun out of control. India's military mobilization raised the specter of full-scale war and the possibility that Pakistan, faced with the defeat of its Army, would resort to nuclear weapons. The volumes authors focus on five main areas: the political history that led to the crisis; the conventional military environment during the crisis; the nuclear environment during the crisis; coercive diplomacy and de-escalation during the crisis; and arms control and confidence-building measures that can help South Asia to avoid similar crises in the future."--