Overview

The Battle for Pakistan showcases a marriage of convenience between unequal partners. The relationship between Pakistan and the United States since the early 1950s has been nothing less than a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster ride. Today, surrounded by hostile neighbors, with Afghanistan increasingly under Indian influence, Pakistan does not wish to break ties with the United States. Nor does it want to become a vassal of China and get caught in the vice of a US-China rivalry, or in the Arab-Iran conflict. Internally, massive economic and demographic challenges as well as the existential threat of armed militancy pose huge obstacles to Pakistan's development and growth. Could its short-run political miscalculations in the Obama years prove too costly? Can the erratic Trump administration help salvage this relationship? Based on detailed interviews with key US and South Asian leaders, access to secret documents and operations, and the author’s personal relationships and deep knowledge of the region, this book untangles the complex web of the US-Pakistani relationship and identifies a clear path forward, showing how the United States can build better partnerships in troubled corners of the world.

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9781538142042

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Reviews

Nawaz has produced a book essential to anyone's South Asia library. . . . [In] writing with serious intent, Nawaz has created, perhaps, inadvertently, another dark, tragic comedy of duplicity, chaos, misunderstanding, miscommunication, backstabbing, and betrayal. . . . [As] his book illustrates, Pakistan has yet to make [the right] choices and is today as was once described of late 19th century Prussia-not a country with an army but an army with a country. * South Asia Journal * This book should stimulate a much-needed debate among policy circles in Washington and Islamabad. It is a must-read for policy makers, top military officers, diplomats, academics and scholars, not just in the two countries that are its focus, but throughout the globe. * Naya Daur * In this seminal work . . . Shuja Nawaz explores what Pakistan's war against itself means for the new version of the Great Game now being played in Central Asia, for Pakistan, the US, and the alliance between them. . . . It is a remarkable work by an acclaimed writer on the Pakistani military. . . . It also sheds light on the deep involvement of the US and UK in Pakistan's internal political battles. The horizontal and vertical fragmentation of the society along political, religious and ethnic lines, which has intensified since 9/11, poses the most serious problem for Pakistan. . . . What makes The Battle For Pakistan substantive and authoritative is that it is based on interviews with senior Pakistani and US military officials directly involved in policymaking during that period. The author has unique access to the centres of power in the US and Pakistan, both of which he considers home. That makes the book extremely objective, covering all sides and dimensions of a roller-coaster relationship. * Dawn * A must read for anyone who seeks to understand the complexities of forming and executing foreign policy any place, but especially in South Asia. Written with insight, detailed knowledge, keen analysis, and true conviction. -- Amitai Etztoni, The George Washington University, author of Reclaiming Patriotism Shuja Nawaz's important book is as timely as tomorrow's headlines. He's delivering vital guidance to US policy makers surprisingly misinformed about ties with Pakistan while, for general readers, he's telling a suspenseful story of diplomacy and intrigue in the toughest of neighborhoods. No one is more authoritative than Mr. Nawaz on the US-Pakistani political-military relationship, and that makes the choices he lays out vital for all of us to understand. -- Derek Leebaert, author of Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957 Packed with inside information from the ruling circles in both Pakistan and the United States, this book is essential reading for everyone trying to understand the international community's most tortuous bilateral relationship. -- Owen Bennett-Jones, journalist and author of The Bhutto Dynasty

Packed with inside information from the ruling circles in both Pakistan and the United States, this book is essential reading for everyone trying to understand the international community's most tortuous bilateral relationship. -- Owen Bennett-Jones, journalist and author of The Bhutto Dynasty Shuja Nawaz's important book is as timely as tomorrow's headlines. He's delivering vital guidance to US policy makers surprisingly misinformed about ties with Pakistan while, for general readers, he's telling a suspenseful story of diplomacy and intrigue in the toughest of neighborhoods. No one is more authoritative than Mr. Nawaz on the US-Pakistani political-military relationship, and that makes the choices he lays out vital for all of us to understand. -- Derek Leebaert, author of Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957 A must read for anyone who seeks to understand the complexities of forming and executing foreign policy any place, but especially in South Asia. Written with insight, detailed knowledge, keen analysis, and true conviction. -- Amitai Etztoni, The George Washington University, author of Reclaiming Patriotism In this seminal work . . . Shuja Nawaz explores what Pakistan's war against itself means for the new version of the Great Game now being played in Central Asia, for Pakistan, the US, and the alliance between them. . . . It is a remarkable work by an acclaimed writer on the Pakistani military. . . . It also sheds light on the deep involvement of the US and UK in Pakistan's internal political battles. The horizontal and vertical fragmentation of the society along political, religious and ethnic lines, which has intensified since 9/11, poses the most serious problem for Pakistan. . . . What makes The Battle For Pakistan substantive and authoritative is that it is based on interviews with senior Pakistani and US military officials directly involved in policymaking during that period. The author has unique access to the centres of power in the US and Pakistan, both of which he considers home. That makes the book extremely objective, covering all sides and dimensions of a roller-coaster relationship. * Dawn * This book should stimulate a much-needed debate among policy circles in Washington and Islamabad. It is a must-read for policy makers, top military officers, diplomats, academics and scholars, not just in the two countries that are its focus, but throughout the globe. * Naya Daur * Nawaz has produced a book essential to anyone's South Asia library. . . . [In] writing with serious intent, Nawaz has created, perhaps, inadvertently, another dark, tragic comedy of duplicity, chaos, misunderstanding, miscommunication, backstabbing, and betrayal. . . . [As] his book illustrates, Pakistan has yet to make [the right] choices and is today as was once described of late 19th century Prussia-not a country with an army but an army with a country. * South Asia Journal *

Author Information

Shuja Nawaz, a globally recognized political and strategic analyst, is a distinguished fellow at the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council. He is the author of many studies on Pakistan and South Asian security issues and an acclaimed book, Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within.

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