• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "C. Raja Mohan"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie India"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie India",
  "programAffiliation": "SAP",
  "programs": [
    "South Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "United States",
    "South Asia",
    "India",
    "North America",
    "Afghanistan",
    "Pakistan"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

Other
Carnegie India

South Asian Views on America’s Role in Asia

South Asian leaders are deeply concerned about America’s long-term commitment to the liberal, global economic order and Washington’s political will to sustain its longstanding international security commitments.

Link Copied
By C. Raja Mohan
Published on Nov 30, 2016
Program mobile hero image

Program

South Asia

The South Asia Program informs policy debates relating to the region’s security, economy, and political development. From strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific to India’s internal dynamics and U.S. engagement with the region, the program offers in-depth, rigorous research and analysis on South Asia’s most critical challenges.

Learn More

Source: Asia Foundation

The resurgent dynamism in South Asia has restored the region to its historic role as the crucial link between different parts of the vast Eurasian landmass including the Middle East, Central Asia, China, and Southeast Asia.  The waters of South Asia have also become an important part of new geographic conceptions such as the Indo-Pacific. Amidst this growing importance of South Asia, a number of questions have arisen in the context of the U.S. elections. Given the West’s widespread political fatigue with nation building, will the new administration turn its back on Afghanistan, or learn from past mistakes and recalibrate its strategy? Will the United States maintain its post-war primacy in the region, or pull back from the expansive goals that it set for itself in the past? Does Washington have the will and the resources to shape the South Asian strategic environment? What might be the consequences for South Asian economies, among the last in the world to globalize, of an American drift towards protectionism? How engaged will the United States remain on issues of good governance and democratization in the region?

This chapter was originally published in the Asia Foundation’s Asian Views on America’s Role in Asia.

Read Full Text

About the Author

C. Raja Mohan

Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie India

A leading analyst of India’s foreign policy, Mohan is also an expert on South Asian security, great-power relations in Asia, and arms control.

    Recent Work

  • Article
    Deepening the India-France Maritime Partnership

      C. Raja Mohan, Darshana M. Baruah

  • Commentary
    Shanghai Cooperation Organization at Crossroads: Views From Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi
      • Alexander Gabuev
      • +1

      Alexander Gabuev, Paul Haenle, C. Raja Mohan, …

C. Raja Mohan
Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie India
EconomyForeign PolicyUnited StatesSouth AsiaIndiaNorth AmericaAfghanistanPakistan

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Parliamentary Elections in Occupied Ukraine Risk Backfiring for the Kremlin

    Despite unhappiness on the ground, Moscow is determined to use both carrot and stick to ensure there is record support for United Russia in occupied Ukraine.

      Konstantin Skorkin

  • Paper
    Egypt’s Military Landlord Economy and its Limitations

    The armed forces champion a form of capitalism that is generating revenue, but its reliance on rent faces diminishing returns, leaving the country with massive sunk costs and deferred returns, deepening dependency on external borrowing.

      Yezid Sayigh

  • Article
    From Hormuz to the Maghreb: The Geopolitical Reach of a Gulf Crisis

    Morocco and Algeria, each in its own way, are having to navigate the global economic fallout of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

      Yasmine Zarhloule

  • Commentary
    Emissary
    Nolan’s "The Odyssey" Has a Colonialism Problem

    Despite Morocco’s hopes that its film industry would reap rewards, the blockbuster’s success will be tainted by controversy surrounding filming in occupied Western Sahara.

      • Sarah Yerkes

      Sarah Yerkes

  • Paper
    Securing America’s Near Abroad: Recalibrating U.S. Policy Toward Haiti

    Helping to stabilize Haiti is in the United States’ national interest and can be done by making wise use of various foreign policy tools in addition to supporting international security forces.

      Christopher Shell

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.