Pakistan: Can the United States Secure an Insecure State?

The Geopolitics, 2024

National security doctrines evolve gradually, shaped by institutional factors unless disrupted by drastic events. For example, the war in Ukraine has dramatically altered global security paradigms almost overnight. However, most changes in national security are incremental, influenced by state actors, interest groups, perceptions, and institutions. Once embedded in a nation’s structure, these doctrines become robust and resistant to change unless major events force a re-evaluation.

Rapid changes in contemporary international security environment are impacting on Pakistan's national security in diverse ways; creating challenges and opportunities. Increasing multipolarity, greater mobility of people, finances and ideas and rise of violent non state actors characterise the change which necessitates analysis of the strategic environment with a view to developing an objective perspective on Pakistan's national security. Emphasising Quaid e Azam's direction for " Peace Within and Peace Without " , the article proffers proposals on national security policy formulation i.e. structural and policy aspects to accrue optimum benefits from the increasing pre-eminence of geo-economic developments in the region.

Global Social Sciences Review

The paper reflects on Pakistan's complex security situation and the causes of current challenges that Pakistan is facing due to vacillating foreign policies. It also reviews the role of factors that contributed towards the instability of the country. After Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan involved in a proxy war and trained Mujahideen to liberate Afghanistan. In 1980's sectarianism floored the state, and since it has rooted in Pakistani society. The country brokered several Post-Soviet peace agreements between different militaristic groups in Afghanistan but in vain. Finally, it recognized Taliban for the cause of peace (though temporary) on its Western border. After 9/11 the country had to reluctantly take a "U" turn on its Afghan policy under immense US pressure. This swing of policy opened a Pandora-box for the country i.e. terrorism, Jihadist, ethnicity, sectarianism, economic and political instability in Pakistan. In this state of affairs corruption, d...

İNSAMER, 2019

The security challenges facing Pakistan are complex with issues relating to modernization, globalization, as well as regional and geographic perspectives. Being placed in a highly volatile region offers both opportunities and liabilities for the country. Any change in international security environment affects Pakistan’s security. The emerging world’s multi-polarity, increasing mobility of people, economies and ideas, and the rise of extreme right wing parties pave the way for the analysis of multi-dimensional security in Pakistan.

Middle East Policy, 2009

Center for the Study of Pakistan, Columbia University Occasional Paper Series, 2005

In the wake of General Musharraf's death February 2023, I am uploading this paper to share my thinking in 2005 and any and all comments are welcome from the readers: In the past three years (2001-2004), Pakistan-United States relations have undergone a fundamental restructuring. At state and policy levels there is growing appreciation o f the constraints and opportunities o f a possible strategic partnership, this paper provides an overview o f the changing dynamics o f Pakistan-United States relations and argues that, despite some disabilities and limitations, Pakistan has an opportunity to forge a strategic partnership with the US. The US does have apprehensions about Pakistan's domestic predilections and somewhat 'problematic foreign policy goals: ’ the perceived threat ofJihadi groups, domestically and regionally (Afghanistan and beyond), the possibility o f escalation in Kashmir, the nuclear issue and Pakistan's trustworthiness in supporting the ‘war on terror. ’ This paper contends that both countries now seem to have a realistic assessment o f shared strategic objectives and challenges the conventional view ofPakistan-US relations as tactical and transient. It underscores that change in global and regional geo-political environment necessitated a strategic partnership. Unlike the past, today, there is some reason for optimism. Between September 2001 and June 2004, the US and Pakistan have made significant progress towards initiating solid policy measures to promote a strategic partnership.

Special report for USIP , 2015

Traditionally ruled by military or quasi-military regimes, Pakistan is struggling to strengthen its democratic governance but the military remains in charge of country’s security policy. This period of incremental democratization corresponds to the unprecedented rise in terrorism and domestic insurgencies that have challenged state capacity and taken a toll on both the morale of the country and the economy. This report reviews Pakistan’s progress in devising and implementing counterterrorism policy frameworks in recent years. In highlighting key related strategic and operational issues, it offers Pakistani policymakers ways forward on how best to ensure internal stability and security, reminding us that a balance in civilian and military institutions is vital for effective policy outcomes.

Pakistan, a nation of 185.5 million people and a neighbor to Afghanistan, India and China -- in other words, a country of paramount strategic importance -- is in danger. Unlike other failed states, both a democratic government and a semblance of civilian infrastructure remain intact, and yet the nation is ranked #10 on the 2010 Foreign Policy and Fund for Peace's Failed States Index. Out of the 12 axioms that govern the index, Pakistan scores especially poorly on 'Security Apparatus,' 'Factionalized Elites,' 'Group Grievances,' and 'External Intervention.' A truly failed Pakistani state has grave implications for the international community. In addition to posing terrible physical, economic and humane costs to Pakistani society and citizenry, which constitutes the sixth-most populous nation in the world, a full-blown failure will surely lead to an explosion in militancy that places destabilizing pressures on sensitive neighboring countries. In this paper, I present a reform strategy to overhaul the country's political and economic stability and ensure security, while building on the country's robust elements. Some priorities of this approach are: i) the immediate provision of necessary services and security to disenfranchised groups such as women, minorities and rural peoples, ii) better enforcement of property rights to promote economic development, iii) increased transparency and accountability while reducing bureaucracy, iv) reformation of rules currently governing the security arms of government, v) improving communication between various branches of the state and iv) expanding access low-cost technological developments such as mobile phones in ways that can both empower the Pakistani people and reinforce the pursuit of institutional reform. The rules of the state must change to better reflect the nature of Pakistani society. I first express the policy goals of this strategy and briefly explain the ideology behind the strategy. I then provide a brief history of the nation, survey relevant statistics and identify key players. I will elaborate in detail the challenges facing Pakistan, and the questions we must consider when dealing with these challenges. I finally deliver my proposals to achieve each one of these policy goals, as well as my plans for their funding and implementation. I conclude with an overview of the anticipated effects of a fully-implemented strategy, and some finishing thoughts.