Pakistan's Transformation: Why It WIll Not (and Need Not) Happen
Abstract
Pakistan's reputation is receiving a battering from its numerous American critics as brutal as any suffered in its past. The battering focuses on four categories of Pakistan's strategic behavior: Islamic extremism and terrorism, democratic restoration and reform, nuclear proliferation, and Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations. Pakistan's critics demand fundamental change in all of them. Its critics notwithstanding, Pakistan's radical strategic transformation is most unlikely to happen because it would sacrifice Pakistan's vital national interests. More importantly, to sustain a cooperative and mutually beneficial U.S.-Pakistan relationship, Pakistan's strategic makeover is not necessary. There are three main reasons why Pakistan's strategic overhaul need not happen. First, the matter of Pakistan's transformation has far too often been cast in the most extreme terms. Second, there are ways to achieve U.S. objectives in the region short of requiring Pakistan's fundamental makeover. Third, there are reasons to consider modification of U.S. regional objectives themselves. In sum, the "transform or else" attitude that underlies criticisms of Pakistan needs replacement by a pragmatic point of view that measures Pakistan's policy performance not by its conformity to a set of ideal behaviors but in terms of its immediate and tangible contributions to American policy objectives.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA445172
Entities
People
- Robert G. Wirsing
Organizations
- Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies