Counterinsurgency in Pakistan
Abstract
Beginning in 2001, Pakistan conducted a range of operations against militant groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and other parts of Pakistan. Because of Pakistan's nuclear status and the presence of international terrorist organizations, such as al Qa'ida, Pakistan's counterinsurgency campaign significantly affects the security of countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East -- including the United States. U.S. President Barack Obama argued that Pakistan's border region is "the most dangerous place in the world" for the United States. The head of U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, noted that "it is the headquarters of the al Qa'ida senior leadership," which is planning attacks in the West. U.S. intelligence agencies have linked several terrorist plots in the United States to networks in Pakistan, including Faisal Shahzad's May 2010 attempt to bomb Times Square in New York. Another notable threat was the al Qa'ida plot to detonate a bomb in the New York City subway that involved Najibullah Zazi. Similarly, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that "three-quarters of the most serious plots investigated by the British authorities have links to al Qa'ida in Pakistan." This document examines counterinsurgency efforts in Pakistan and asks several questions: What are the roots of the militant challenge in Pakistan? What have Pakistan's primary operations against militants been? How effective have these operations been in achieving their goals? And what are the policy implications? To answer these questions, the document combines field research in Pakistan with a review of the literature on counterinsurgency and other relevant areas. While there have been numerous policy reports on Pakistan and its militant challenges, there has been little effort to systematically analyze the effectiveness of Pakistan's operations and to apply relevant theoretical lessons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA522727
Entities
People
- C. C. Fair
- Seth Jones
Organizations
- RAND Corporation