This book is comprehensive review of casteism in Indian politics. Although thee are indication of changes in caste relationship coming about as a consequence of economic betterment, Sanskritization, modernisation and westernisation, still caste continues to be a divisive factor. The book discusses comprehensively the meaning, origin, and development of caste system in India, the concept of dominant caste, Scheduled Castes, scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and social change among them, caste as the determinant of political participation, casteism in states of India, caste in contemporary India and steps to check casteism in India with illustrations from the Indian scene.

The landslide of the Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) in the October 1990 election and subsequently the confidence of the National Assembly in Nawaz Sharif to become Prime Minister is the manifestation of the clear mandate of the people for efforts to achieve political stability, to introduce a clean administration and to work for socioeconomic development. New Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, enjoys the two-third majority. He is a position to translate the dream of a prosperous Pakistan into reality. Nawaz Sharif, in his first address to the nation, spelled out his priorities for the uplift of the common man and overall progress and prosperity of Pakistan. He also gave the assurance of fair justice to all, adoption of a liberal industrial policy, appropriate steps for denationalization and the foreign policy to be followed and maintained during his tenure. Pakistan's economy is going to be Nawaz Sharif's greatest challenge. There is no indication yet how the new government is going to weather the economic storm, except the oft-repeated cliché of "heroic self-reliance." Pakistan needs around $2.5 billion to pay for the increased import bill and compensate for the loss of remittances from Pakistani workers in the Gulf. With the conviction growing that Pakistan either possesses nuclear weapons or is about to do so, how should India respond? It may be necessary for it to acquire matching capability. But, first, it is desirable both countries explore whether there can be a reliable treaty of mutual abstinence. A declared nuclear weapon status and is tacit understanding of the strategic interests of both India and Pakistan would help in greatly reducing the chances of a nuclear exchange in the subcontinent.

Does the influence of the U.S. increased in the Muslim world especially after the Gulf War? In fact, the signs of a future geo-political realignment on religious lines cannot be missed. India, Pakistan, Indonesia, China and Russia are likely to face a serious dilemma during the next century when our new bi-polar world emerges. Muslim populations need an understandable affinity towards the Islamic bloc. For Saudi Arabia the Gulf War was a double-edged sword. Kuwait is to fully implement the Islamic law. In Jordan the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the largest single party in Parliament. China has set-up a Muslim dominated trust. The only ideology capable of challenging the politico-economic power of the modern Western Europe is Islam. A majority of the Islamic Nations are bound by a common hostility to America, even though some like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt still remain Washington's allies. The conflict between the Islamic states and Europe is deep-rooted and stems from a historical conflict between the Islamic and Christian civilizations. The collapse of the Soviet Union has led to sweeping changes in global alignments as we move towards a new world order, that that may not be on President George Bush's model. Does the West responsible for spreading prejudices and misunderstanding the Islamic awakening, the book give the future of Islam vs. the West European nations.

Policy sits above conscience. When the Cold War ended, people all over the world heaved a sigh of relief. There was almost a kind of euphoria. We thought we were going to have a period of peace and prosperity, that swords would be beaten into ploughshares. Now that hope is gone. The arms industry will be working overtime to make up for all the lost military hardware and it will be business as usual. But the loss in terms of human resources and destruction of cities will not be so easily made up. Mutual mistrust has kept us divided for so many years and it has benefited no one but western arms dealers. It has now become necessary for India, China, Pakistan and other Third World countries to close ranks and to pool their resources. They should form scientific and technological collectives. Military capability will be determined by peace-time preparedness. Economies in defence expenditure can be achieved only if the governments formulate well-articulated security policy. Today, India has no assessment of the international situation, no national security policy and no apparatus to implement such a policy if their was one. All that has been said would seem enough to underline that the book represents an exceptional contribution to shedding further light on the evolution of foreign affairs and politics of the main powers as well as on the state of affairs in individual parts of the globe. It was appeared at a propitious moment when constructive solutions for securing peace and cooperation among the countries today and in the future need to be sought, on the basis of an objective assessment of the past. The present book does not remove from the agenda further study of foreign policy affairs in specific theoretical aspects. The author leaves room for further research of the questions of cold war complexities, revival of armaments, and scope for further researches in the new problems in formulation foreign policy matters.