Aqil Shah
Snapshot
The United States has long had evidence that Pakistan's ISI backs the Haqqani network, but it took an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul for Obama officials to condemn it publicly. If Islamabad does not clean up its act, Washington needs to follow up rhetoric with military sanctions.
Postscript
The circumstances of Osama bin Laden's death put into stark relief the need to address the gross power imbalance between Pakistan’s generals and politicians.
Essay
May/June
2011
Pakistan is unlikely to collapse anytime soon, but the imbalance of power between its civilian and military branches needs to be addressed if it is to become an effective modern state. Washington must stop coddling Pakistan's military and instead work patiently to support the country's civilian authorities.
Reading List
An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on Pakistani politics.
Roundtable
