Books

My first book, Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy Against Separatists (Cornell University Press) won the 2019 Best Book award from the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association. was published by Cornell University Press in 2017. You can download it for free here or individual chapters here (yes, this is legal). If you prefer a hard copy, you can buy one on Amazon or on Cornell's website. 

Secession and Security won the 2019 Best Book Award from the International Security Studies Section of the ISA. Some reviews are linked below. 

International Affairs: "The spectacular achievement of Butt's seminal study is that it offers a refreshing theoretical explanation as to why states employ different strategies against separatists and, more importantly, it does so by presenting facts in an unbiased fashion. Secession and Security's academic rigour, in-depth analysis, accessibility and balanced objectivity make it a highly commendable contribution to International Relations theory and conflict studies. Apart from general readers, I highly recommend this book to scholars and policy-makers engaged in understanding and resolving the puzzling equation of state–separatist dynamics."

Choice Reviews: "The book is compellingly and authoritatively researched. The research design—a case study approach—is exquisite. The case selections and criteria for comparison are academically sound. Butt also had access to scores of personal interviews as well as extensive archival data. The result is a significant and timely contribution to the scholarship on state decision-making in the international arena."

Open Magazine: "His chapter on insurgencies in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab is probably the most interesting comparative analysis of Indian materials in a long time."

Northeast Now: "Masterly work...Butt’s core argument that state response to separatist challenges are largely conditioned by whether they are seen as an existential crisis for the state and whether they are backed by hostile foreign countries is an important contribution to the study of secessionist movements and state responses."

Bloomsbury Pakistan: "brutally frank analysis."

Dawn: "Butt forcefully argues that secessionist movements between 1971 and 1977 in Bengal (former East Pakistan) and Balochistan were dealt with under the security threat of India and, as such, acquiescing to border changes was anathema." 

I am currently writing my second book, The Lies That Bind Us: Nationalism and History Education, which investigates the politics of nation-building and collective memory. I study why and how governments come to produce certain narratives regarding their history. I draw on fieldwork from three disparate regions of the world — South Asia, Latin America, and North America — aided by local language skills in each.