Analysis of India and Pakistan's nuclear deterrence in the context of the Kashmir conflict: Security and geopolitical challenges and their impact on regional stability

This bachelor thesis deals with the analysis of nuclear deterrence between India and Pakistan in the context of the Kashmir region. The aim of this thesis is to analyze how nuclear weapons influence the escalation dynamics between these two states. The time frame is defined after 1998, when both states successfully tested nuclear weapons and thus became de facto nuclear powers. This analysis was conducted on the basis of two case studies that present similar and at the same time different patterns of behavior within the escalation dynamics between the two nuclear states. The results of the analysis illustrate that nuclear weapons do not fully prevent conflicts from arising, but rather limit them and thus prevent escalation into full-scale conventional or nuclear war.