Pakistan At The Crossroads: Amid Chaos and Challenges, Hope(s) for ‘Democratic Stability’ (original) (raw)
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New Perspectives Quarterly, 2007
Pakistan at a Crossroads BENAZIR BHUTTO, twice the prime minister of Pakistan, heads the Pakistan People's Party,the most popular opposition party to Gen.Pervez Musharraf's military rule.She returned to Pakistan on Oct. 18 to lead her party in elections. Her article is followed by an interview. london-There are moments in history that prove decisive and mark a turning point for the future. The American Civil War was such a moment in the United States. The fall of the Berlin Wall was such a moment for Germany and the European Union. Today is Pakistan's moment of truth. Decisions made now will determine whether extremism and terrorism can be contained in Pakistan to save it from internal collapse.The stability of not just Pakistan but the civilized world is at stake. In a democratic Pakistan, extremist movements have been minimal. In all democratic elections in my country, extremist religious parties have never garnered more than 11 percent of the vote. Extremism under democracy has been marginalized by the people of Pakistan. But under dictatorship-most notably under military dictator Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s but unfortunately also under Gen. Pervez Musharraf during this decade-religious extremism has gained a foothold in my homeland. Whether leaders like Gen. Zia manipulated and exploited religion for their own political ends, or whether dictatorship inherently induces deprivation, desperation and hopelessness, the fact remains that extremism has emerged as a threat to my nation, to the region and to the world.These extremists are the Petri dish of international terrorism. It need not be so. It must be reversed. And it can be done. In both of my tenures as prime minister, my government imposed the rule of law on all areas of Pakistan-our four provinces and also the federally administered tribal areas, including Waziristan.With the support of the people of those tribal areas, we managed to uproot an international drug cartel that had operated with impunity under dictatorship. Today, however, the international drug barons have morphed into religious extremists and terrorists. The current government of Pakistan has ceded large areas FALL 2007
Complex Regional Dynamics: Pakistan need for Political Paradigm shift
Since the beginning of war on terror world has realized not only the geo-strategic importance of Pakistan but also the fact that it can play a decisive role in bringing end to this war for good. Mean while with every passing day regional dynamics are becoming more intricate and complex, therefore new challenges have emerged. Hence in order to deal with them Pakistan requires extensive preemptive pragmatic approach. In war on terrorism Pakistan became an important US ally and got this natural edge over India by being the neighbor of Afghanistan. With the imminent US exit from Afghanistan and emerging India-Afghanistan nexus, Pakistan is pondering over to make much needed political paradigm shift which would bring long term internal stability and would lessen the involvement of non-state actors in damaging the internal and external security configurations of Pakistan. From 2001 to 2014, the region of South Asia has witnessed several changes ranging from harsh natural calamities, mounting economic crunches, changing security paradigm and above all the birth of new forms of terrorism. Moreover in general a new sense of insecurity and uncertainty has also prevailed across all the nations of South Asia. Although Global War on Terror is being fought on the western neighbor of Pakistan i.e. Afghanistan, however ironically the main protagonist and sufferer in this war has been the non-NATO ally of USA i.e. Pakistan. However even after a decade of war the victory of USA in Afghanistan is yet to be seen even though a lot of al-Qaeda recruiters and fugitives have been arrested or killed but the peace in war torn country of Afghanistan seems like a distant dream. On the other hand, Pakistan is slipping in a deep quagmire day by day and hopes for peace in this war affected country is nowhere to be seen. The biggest challenge faced by Pakistan since 2010 is to deal with the domestic pressure of curbing the terrorist activities and radical elements and the international demands of controlling the cross border terrorist infiltration from Afghanistan and to participate more actively in war on terrorism. Though Pakistan has been fulfilling its part of the deal nevertheless it has ended up making more enemies than friends not only domestically but also on the regional front. Despite of all the sacrifices, losses and adversities, the master
Journal of International and Global Studies, 2012
Picking up Ahutosh Misra and Michael E. Clarke's edited volume, one is first struck by the cover image of a demonstration featuring gun-toting Pakistani youth and bearded men, with banners held aloft against an overcast sky. The image is one that has been popularized by mainstream media due to the central place that Pakistan has come to occupy in what is known as the "War on Terror." Coupled with the title of the book, the image draws the readers' attention to the instability of Pakistan and the lurking threat of its collapse. Yet, if one looks carefully at the image on the cover, the faces of those youth, with guns held high, are striking for their widegrinned smiles, as if they are posing for the camera, trying to appear angry and tough but unable to hold back their light-hearted laughter. The discrepancy between what the image on the cover intends to portray and how the youths in the photograph may perceive themselves is reflective of a broader paradox in which the security threat Pakistan poses is a presumed truth, regardless of not only the ways in which the U.S. has "created" this truth but also the ways in which the people of Pakistan may perceive their own involvement in the "War on Terror." However, seeing that this edited volume is a result of a three-day conference organized by the Griffith Asia Institute and held in Brisbane, Australia in November of 2009, where "security experts" from Pakistan, India, Australia, and the United States addressed "some of the most pressing challenges facing the country," it is not surprising that such paradoxes are not addressed in the text (p. xvi). While the "mediatization" of Pakistan's role in the "War on Terror" is not addressed, Misra and Clarke have set out to pull together a series of papers that do address the domestic, regional, and international challenges facing Pakistan. In the preface, they begin by pointing to the 2.5 per cent GDP growth rate, double-digit inflation rate, and US$56 billion in foreign debt. They write that there is unanimous recognition that the failure of the state would have devastating consequences for international security "and must be prevented at all costs." At the same time, the picture that emerges from the essays is that while Pakistan does face significant challenges, the state is unlikely to collapse. The first five of the book's twelve chapters focus on Pakistan's domestic sphere. Ashutosh Misra begins with a look at the interplay in Pakistan between the three forms of government (FOG): military dictatorship, democracy, and Islamism. Using a stability-instability model in which these three forces compete with each other and engage in co-option, he argues that the interplay between these three forms of government lies at the core of Pakistan's political instability. The author suggests that for the sake of Pakistan's stability, this jostling among political parties must cease; still, he acknowledges that "this may only be possible when one of these FOGs becomes self-reliant and does not have to align with the other two in order to stay in power" (p. 3). Misra concludes his essay by pointing to developments within Pakistan's judiciary system and by asserting that such developments reflect positively on the future of democracy in Pakistan. The conclusion of the first chapter provides a fitting transition to the excellent second chapter by Tasneem Kausar. Kausar focuses on the Pakistani judiciary system during the 2007 lawyers' movement and provides a helpful historical overview of the Pakistani Supreme Court and its historic role in the development of democracy in the country. Underscoring the historical significance of the strides made by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in helping the court establish "its own identity, [secure] its legitimacy and [win] its independence" (pp. 28, 32),
Pakistan 2012 : dicing with its own future
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Pakistan is rent by regional resentment, ethnic-linguistic divisions and provincial enmities, while stuck in a quagmire of criminality and terrorism. It faces the prospect of another redrawing of its boundaries unless it can resolve the internal conflicts and restore credible and honest leadership. Commentary MORE THAN 30 years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan is still sucked in a quagmire. Its governance, never a strong point, has broken down. Pakistan is now radicalised to a point where even the Afghan President Hamid Karzai accuses it of exporting 'terrorism". Pakistan's economic progress is in serious jeopardy. Its social fabric is torn seemingly beyond repair.
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Maleeha Lodhi, as the editor of Pakistan: Beyond the 'Crisis State,' has managed to assemble some of Pakistan's most influential academics, writers, economists and policymakers in one volume, designed to give an insider's perspective on Pakistan's "crisis" from diverse angles, and more importantly, to suggest solutions regarding Pakistan's obvious potential for a better future. The book is not a collection of conference proceedings, but rather the product of a virtual conference in cyberspace, discussing themes of "governance, security, economic and human development and foreign policy […] what binds all the distinguished contributors is their belief that Pakistan's challenges are surmountable and the impetus for change and renewal can only come from within, through bold reforms that are identified in the chapters that follow" (3).
Pakistan: In a Struggle for Survival
As Pakistan prepares to hold elections in the autumn, while facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with dwindling reserves and a stalled $6.5 billion IMF programme that is expiring soon, Pakistan's volatile politics comes to a boiling point that involves, the government, the opposition, the army and the supreme court. Historically after the independence, it appears that the captain of the Pakistan Cruise Ship forgot to retrieve its anchors from Kashmir mountains! Pakistan has been anchored to Kashmir mountains and stuck there for 76 years. Its time to left the anchors and let Pakistan cruise, as did Indonesia de-anchored from Malaysia in 1966 and the dispute ended peacefully. At this moment in history, Pakistan needs brave and visionary politicians to change the tide, beat the vicious circle of misery bought about over 76 years by the corrupt politicians, wrong strategic priorities, the disastrous grip of power by the army and as a result change the course of history for Pakistan.
Enduring Political Unrest in Pakistan
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Barring brief periods of relative calm and stability, Pakistan remains in a perpetual crisis. One can attribute the situation to a number of factors, including a fragile society sticking to a faulty social contract, existence of a hybrid polity, a governing system dominated by an omnipotent security establishment, and a compliant judiciary often ready to fall inline during a crisis. As a result, Pakistan finds itself in the midst of an enduring political crisis.
A state in flux: Pakistan in the context of national and regional change
Contemporary South Asia, 2012
Over the past 10 years, Pakistan has passed through some of the most turbulent and difficult times in its history. The war in Afghanistan post 9/11 has put Pakistan on the front line of the war on terrorism and provoked violent Islamic militancy within Pakistan and some grave policy choices for Pakistan itself. Riven in addition by the natural disasters of earthquakes and floods and hobbled by political instability, economic woes, and deep social, religious and ethnic divisions, Pakistan has reached a point of great flux with important national and regional changes imminent. This collection of six essays focus on critical elements of this flux -political Islam, militancy and religious minorities, political patronage and democracy, the economic impacts of the floods and Pakistan's relations with the US and its regional foreign policy -to identify key trends which will shape Pakistan's future.