Case 233 - On the Brink of War: India, Pakistan, and the 1990 Kashmir Crisis

Pavri, Tinaz

Focusing on the Kashmir Crisis of 1990, this case study asks students to analyze why the crisis occurred and how it was peacefully resolved. Toward that end, participants will assess how key factors, such as the role of leaders, domestic politics, and the burden of history, fit within a general approach to analyzing conflict. Though the study places the dispute in the context of the larger, protracted conflict between India and Pakistan, it also encourages students to consider what resolution Kashmiris themselves sought.

This case was written to enable students to move comfortably back and forth among the 1990 crisis, the larger issue of Kashmir itself, and the hostile relationship between India and Pakistan. By exploring why this crisis occurred and how it was resolved short of war, students will come to understand how key factors, such as the role of leaders, domestic politics, and the burden of history, fit within a general approach to analyzing conflict.