Events, News, and Mentions:
- Upcoming event: Power Realignments in Asia (panel discussion), Carnegie Endowment, December 2, 2009.
- Tunku Varadarajan, “Obama Must Stop Neglecting India,” Forbes.com, May 18, 2009.
- “2009 U.S. Marshall Forum on Transatlantic Affairs reunites fellows in the nation’s capital,” German Marshall Fund, April 30, 2009.
- Anne Murphy, “A Celebration of the Punjabi language and its history in B.C.” Vancouver Sun, March 23, 2009.
- “USIBC calls for US-India investment pact,” rediff.com, March 6, 2009.
- “N-deal opened doors to new opportunities in India-US ties: envoy,” Economic Times, March 5, 2009.
- “N-deal opened doors to new opportunities in India-US ties,” Hindustan Times, March 5, 2009.
- Washington event: Advancing US Relations with India Summit, USIBC and Asia Society, March 4, 2009 (video excerpts)
- Karl F. Inderfurth, “Building a Strategic Partnership: U.S.-India Relations in the Wake of Mumbai,” In Asia, March 4, 2009.
- New York event: Launch of Asia Society Task Force on US-India Relations, New York, February 4, 2009 (video excerpt)
- “Indo-US Relations: The Way Forward,” Sify.com, February 4, 2009.
- “India Important to US Interests: Asia Society Study,” India Today, January 17, 2009.
- “India & US can’t achieve their goals without each other,” rediff.com, January 17, 2009.
- “Asia Society Task Force Provides New Model for Deeper Private and NGO Sector Involvement in Strategic US-India Partnerships,” Reuters, January 16, 2009.
Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan
Cambridge University Press, 2009
Hardback (ISBN-13: 9780521519311)
Adobe eBook Reader (ISBN-13: 9780511590375)
South Asian edition (ISBN-13: 9780521762892)
Alyssa Ayres’ fascinating study examines Pakistan’s troubled history by exploring the importance of culture to political legitimacy. Early leaders selected Urdu as the natural symbol of the nation’s great cultural past, but due to its limited base great efforts would be required to make it truly national. This paradox underscores the importance of cultural policies for national identity formation. By comparing Pakistan’s experience with those of India and Indonesia, the author analyzes how their national language policies led to very different outcomes. The lessons of these large multiethnic states offer insights for the understanding of culture, identity, and nationalism throughout the world. The book is aimed at scholars in the fields of history, political theory, and South Asian studies, as well as those interested in the history of culture and nationalism in one of the world’s most complex, and challenging, countries. (more…)