Overview

This study seeks to solve the following puzzle: In 1947, the Pakistan military was poorly trained and poorly armed. It also inherited highly vulnerable territory vis-à-vis the much bigger India, aggravated because of serious disputes with Afghanistan. Over the years, the military, or rather the Pakistan Army, continued to grow in power and influence, and progressively became the most powerful institution. Moreover, it became an institution with de facto veto powers at its disposal to overrule other actors within society including elected governments. Simultaneously, it began to acquire foreign patrons and donors willing to arm it as part of the Cold War competition (the United States), regional balance-of-power concerns (China), and ideological contestants for leadership over the Muslim world (Saudi Arabia, to contain Iranian influence). A perennial concern with defining the Islamic identity of Pakistan, exacerbated by the Afghan jihad, resulted in the convergence of internal and external factors to produce the fortress of Islam self-description that became current in the early twenty-first century. Over time, Pakistan succumbed to extremism and terrorism within, and was accused of being involved in similar activities within the South Asian region and beyond. Such developments have been ruinous to Pakistans economic and democratic development. This study explains how and why it happened.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ishtiaq Ahmed (Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University)
Publisher:   OUP Pakistan
Imprint:   OUP Pakistan
Dimensions:   Width: 13.90cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 21.00cm
Weight:   0.450kg
ISBN:  

9780190702441

ISBN 10:   0190702443
Pages:   508
Publication Date:   30 April 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements 1. The Fortress of Islam: A Metaphor for a Garrison State 2. British, American, and Soviet Attitudes Towards the Pakistan Scheme 3. The Colonial Roots of the Pakistan Army 4. The First Kashmir War, 1947-1948 5. Wooing the Americans, and Civil-Military Relations 6. The First Military Takeover 7. The 1965 War 8. Alienation between East and West Pakistan 9. Civil War and Pakistan-India War of 1971 10. The Rise and Fall of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 11. General Zia Braces the Fortress of Islam 12. The Afghan Jihad 13. Civilian Governments and the Establishment 14. Vicissitudes of the Musharraf Regime 15. Transition to Democracy and Proliferation in Terrorism 16. The United States Prepares for Exit 17. The Gory End of Osama bin Laden 18. Analysis and Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Ishtiaq Ahmed was born in Lahore on 24 February 1947. He received a PhD in Political Science from Stockholm University in 1986. He taught at Stockholm University from 1987 to 2007, and was then invited as Senior Research Fellow and Visiting Research Professor by the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, during 2007-2010. He is now Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University and Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He has published extensively on Pakistani and South Asian politics. His research interests cover fields as diverse as political Islam, ethnicity and nationalism, human and minority rights, and indeed, partition studies.

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