Pakistan at the crossroads:Domestic dynamics and external pressures

In Pakistan at the Crossroads, top international scholars assess Pakistan's politics and economics and the challenges faced by its civil and military leaders domestically and diplomatically. Contributors examine the state's handling of internal threats, tensions between civilians and the military, strategies of political parties, police and law enforcement reform, trends in judicial activism, the rise of border conflicts, economic challenges, financial entanglements with foreign powers, and diplomatic relations with India, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and the United States. In addition to ethnic strife in Baluchistan and Karachi, terrorist violence in Pakistan in response to the American-led military intervention in Afghanistan and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas by means of drones, as well as to Pakistani army operations in the Pashtun area, has reached an unprecedented level. There is a growing consensus among state leaders that the nation's main security threats may come not from India but from its spiraling internal conflicts, though this realization may not sufficiently dissuade the Pakistani army from targeting the country's largest neighbor. This volume is therefore critical to grasping the sophisticated interplay of internal and external forces complicating the country's recent trajectory.Acknowledgments Introduction: Pakistan, the Interface State, by Christophe Jaffrelot Part I: The Domestic Scene 1. The Military and Democracy, by Aqil Shah 2. The Operational Dynamics of Political Parties in Pakistan, by Muhammad Waseem 3. The Judiciary as a Political Actor, by Philip Oldenburg 4. Turmoil in the Frontier, by Mariam Abou Zahab 5. Internal Security Issues in Pakistan: Prospects of Police and Law Enforcement Reform, by Hassan Abbas 6. Pakistan's Economy: Domestic Dissent and Foreign Reliance, by Shahid Javed Burki and Dann Naseemullah Part II: The International Dimensions 7. Pakistan-Afghan Relations Since 2001: There Are No Endgames, by Avinash Paliwal 8. U.S.-Pakistan Relations Under Obama: Resilience of Clientelism?, by Christophe Jaffrelot 9. Pakistan-China Symbiotic Relations, by Farah Jan and Serge Granger 10. Pakistan Between Saudi Arabia and Iran: Islam in the Politics and Economics of Western Asia, by Sana Haroon List of Contributors Inde