Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military

You will seldom meet Indians and Pakistanis who can agree about the major events in their common history and agree on how the events actually transpired. This is a well researched book by the current Pakistani ambassador to the US, written very well, that addresses the history of Pakistan since 1947, honestly and openly. What I find fascinating is that his version of history, more or less, matches the history taught to us in schools in India. This gives me great confidence in our education system. For people not from South Asia this is a very informative book that lays bare the links between the Islamists and the Military in Pakistan and highlights their pathological obsession with India as an enemy. The generosity, and the genuine desire, of Indian politicians to establish peace in the region, despite numerous provocations, is also brought into the open. I cannot imagine any other Nation with the disparity in military and economic strength that exists between India and Pakistan being as magnanimous toward its pesky little neighbor. This book should be on the shelf of every Indian and Pakistani if we are to bring about a true rapprochement between our Nations. And it should be on the shelf all those who are interested in the region so that they can have a balanced and nuanced view of the dynamics in the region.

I recommend reading this book; however, I am afraid, many Westerners who are far removed from religion in their daily lives and Indians who are anti-Pakistan may draw wrong/tainted conclusions against Pakistan.1): Whatever Haqqani writes in his book, one must understand military and mullahs can not be separated because Pakistan is primarily a Muslim country and military is a subset of it.2): Military, an aggressive institution by nature, will remain close to mullah parties (such as Jamat-e-Islami) because these parties are hawkish and anti-India.3): Since the military brass knows that Pakistan must remain a forward looking country, the same military which seeks the help of mullah-parties does not want mullahs to rule the country. Thus the double game of sleeping with mullahs while supporting a secular minded government (Muslim League/PPP/MQM) which takes into account the geopolitical issues of Pakistan.4): Military has/had run into extreme distrust with Benazeer for hanging his father, Altaf Hussain of MQM for first propping him against PPP and then cracking him, and Nawaz for getting too close to Vajpai. Until there is a trust between secular minded party leaders and the military, the military would continue to support mullahs for a long time.5): One view is that military should keep Benazeer, Nawaz, and Altaf out of the country while making deals with their party leaders. Hope this works and a trust is developed between secular minded parties and military.6): Acquiring nuclear deterrent against India and confidence building measures such the construction of the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline would help reduce military reliance on mullahs.

Anyone who want to understand why Pakistan is in current state, must read this book. It is specially recommend as the writer is a Pakistani and a former diplomat so his statements can't be called a someone who hates Pakistan.

I give Mr. Haqqani, the author lot of credit for coming out and give information on inside of Pakistan politics. I read other books on this subject but this was the best.

Given Haqqani's close relationship with several recent Pakistan governments, I had been looking forward to reading his text.On the pluses, the book is well researched, with several interesting insights and facts which maintained my curiosity. For instance, it was surprising to learn of the ISI's active interest in Afghanistan which began in 1973 (6 years before the USSR's invasion). Then there were the specifics about Benazir's foreign policy options during her first prime ministerial office being largely curtailed by the army.On the minuses, Haqqani failed on the book's higher conceptual thinking - specifically he failed to adequately relate the interesting facts with enough of a meaningful conceptual framework. The book feels like a laundry list of events, a boring chronology book (not even a history book, let alone a European IR text) when it really needed to explore the core concepts more powerfully. The book is after all supposed to be focused on the relationship between Pakistan's 'Mosque and Military'.My guess is that the author rushed the book. Students who have had to write a thesis may appreciate my next comment more easily than others. This book gave me the impression that the author had written the first draft, proofed for typos and run to the printers. I would have thought that if he had allowed a gestation period, even a few weeks, he would have been able to self-reflect that little bit more and push the conceptual dimension.

V. Good

Given his current and past roles with the Pakistan government, the author is uniquely positioned to provide commentary on the establishmment and recent history of Pakistan. The book describes the country's role in nuclear proliferation and fostering of terror groups active in the West and in India. The combination of military rule, based on Islamic support, US alliance and an anti-India policy have defined its entire existence and brought it to the condition it is in today. The discovery of Osama hiding in a military controlled Pakistani city is now causing some re-examination of Pakistan-US ties by both sides.Very relevant reading on the most dangerous spot in the world today.