P. R. Chariis a former member of the Indian Administrative Service (1960 batch / Madhya Pradesh cadre). He has been the Director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, and is currently Research Professor at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi. He has served in several senior positions in the Central and State Governments, including the Ministry of Defence, where he was Additional Secretary. He has also been International Fellow, Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University (1983-84) and Visiting Fellow, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1998). He has worked extensively on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and Indian defence issues. He has published over 1300 op-ed articles in newspapers/websites and over 140 monographs and major papers in learned journal/chapters in books abroad and in India. His recent books include Four Crises and a Peace Process: American Engagement in South Asia (co-authored with Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema and Stephen P. Cohen), Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007; Armed Conflicts in South Asia (co-edited), Routledge, 2008; and Making Borders Irrelevant in Kashmir (co-authored withHasanAskariRizvi), United States Institute of Peace, 2008.