The Future of Pakistan

Review

‘Because Pakistan is marinated in crisis, attention is riveted on the latest outrage, disaster, or calamity to occur in the country. . . . The often-asked question following such events is whether they will push Pakistan over the edge, ‘edge’ being variously defi ned—at the minimum, as another military takeover; at the maximum, as the breakup of the state. The cover of this book, which features a puzzle, symbolizes the larger analytical problem: is Pakistan coming apart or is it being put together in some new order?’
—Stephen P. Cohen in the Preface

‘. . . the state in Pakistan is under severe stress, and its authority and power are under challenge as never before. . . . [Yet] there is no person, institution, organization, idea, class, region, or outside power strong enough to tip Pakistan irrevocably one way or other.’
—Kanti Bajpai

‘Pakistan has witnessed the banning of a number of militant groups and the arrests and targeted killings of key al Qaeda and related militants. . . . The results have backfi red—and continue to backfi re—on the Pakistani army, through both colossal casualties in the tribal areas and direct attacks against regional and national security forces and military headquarters.’
—Laila Bokhari

‘There is no likelihood of a takeover of Pakistan by religious extremists. Pakistanis are a deeply religious people, but extremism is alien to their nature, and, as they have proven, their tolerance for the Taliban form of government is very low while their tolerance for suffering in the cause of ridding themselves of this scourge is very high.’
—Shaukat Qadir

‘If the military does seek full power over the next fi ve years, it will probably be in response to domestic instability so palpable that military rule would be welcomed by most of the public.’

—Marvin G. Weinbaum