Military politics in contemporary South Asia

I have a new article out with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I argue that debates over democratic backsliding and competitive authoritarianism in South Asia, while still important, need to be complemented by a renewed focus on how militaries exercise power and influence across much of the region. The fall of the Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh showed how quickly governments with backsliding tendencies could fall. By contrast, in Pakistan and Myanmar, recent years have seen a further deepening of military entrenchment, while in Bangladesh and even Nepal, militaries emerged as decisive players in moments of political paralysis. This has important implications for these countries’ future trajectories (especially in periods of deadlock or renewed crisis), as well as their links to other states. Please go read the whole thing!