“Pakistan on the Brink”
That’s the title of a good piece in the new edition in the New York Review of Books by Ahmed Rashid, one of my proven providers. Like anything Rashid writes, it is worth reading. But two things especially struck me. First, I’ve been more optimistic about Afghanistan than about Pakistan, but haven’t really been able ...
That's the title of a good piece in the new edition in the New York Review of Books by Ahmed Rashid, one of my proven providers.
Like anything Rashid writes, it is worth reading. But two things especially struck me. First, I've been more optimistic about Afghanistan than about Pakistan, but haven't really been able to articulate why. Rashid does it well. Afghanistan, he notes, has a weak and unpopular state, but is backed by the U.S. and NATO. Also, Afghans have a national identity and don't want to see the country broken up. Most importantly, they've tasted Taliban rule, and many hated it. In Pakistan, by contrast, he says, "there is no such broad national identity or unity." Among Pakistani officials, he says, "The sense of unrealism is widespread."
That’s the title of a good piece in the new edition in the New York Review of Books by Ahmed Rashid, one of my proven providers.
Like anything Rashid writes, it is worth reading. But two things especially struck me. First, I’ve been more optimistic about Afghanistan than about Pakistan, but haven’t really been able to articulate why. Rashid does it well. Afghanistan, he notes, has a weak and unpopular state, but is backed by the U.S. and NATO. Also, Afghans have a national identity and don’t want to see the country broken up. Most importantly, they’ve tasted Taliban rule, and many hated it. In Pakistan, by contrast, he says, “there is no such broad national identity or unity.” Among Pakistani officials, he says, “The sense of unrealism is widespread.”
Second, the next time a Pakistani official assures us that his army can carry out a counterinsurgency campaign, he should be asked about this observation of Rashid’s:
. . . the army and the government never protected the Pushtun tribal chiefs and leaders who were pro-government-some three hundred have had their throats slit by the Taliban in the FATA, and the rest have fled.”
TARIQ MAHMOOD/AFP/Getty Images
More from Foreign Policy


Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.


So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.


Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.


Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.