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| 1 |
ID:
113241
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Concerned with a rising tide of religious radicalism within Pakistan, many observers have wondered why moderates do not speak out against militancy. This article explores that question, arguing that the term 'moderate' as used in Pakistan has conflicting meanings and is both more complicated and less useful as a tool of analysis than it once seemed. In particular, the inadequacy of extant definitions is best reflected in the reassertion of a radical Sunni Barelvi subculture and in the growing rift between some leading Islamist parties and the Pakistani Taliban. This article argues in conclusion that ideological factors are typically given undue weight in explaining why and when Pakistanis choose to 'speak out' against militancy and that a narrow, minimalist rendering of 'moderate' provides the most useful definition for those trying to understand the new fault lines emerging within Pakistani Islam.
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| 2 |
ID:
113243
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Pakistan's political system is anchored around a series of patronage networks that favour continuity over radical change. These networks are not immune from social, economic and political change, although these tend to reshape rather than restructure the system. Pakistani nationalism will likely influence Pakistani politics more than Islamism.
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| 3 |
ID:
113244
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
As a result of the Pakistani government's failure to address the situation, severe floods have become a regular occurrence in Pakistan. Consequently, the country finds itself in a vicious cycle of falling international assistance and declining economic growth. However, the country's New Growth Strategy holds out the hope of breaking this cycle, through generating higher rates of economic growth and increased governmental accountability.
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| 4 |
ID:
113246
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In the midst of persistent economic challenges and deteriorating ties with the US, Pakistan is reinvigorating links with traditional partners, China and Saudi Arabia, and reaching out to neighbors like Iran to diversify its foreign policy and lessen its dependence on the US. The 2010 flood disaster exacerbated Pakistan's economic problems and demonstrated its need for robust outside economic assistance. Pakistan cannot count on China for all of its assistance needs and thus will likely avoid severing ties completely with the US. To the extent that Pakistan builds stronger economic ties with its neighbors, its new regional focus could contribute to some economic progress in the country.
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| 5 |
ID:
113240
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Over the past 10 years, Pakistan has passed through some of the most turbulent and difficult times in its history. The war in Afghanistan post 9/11 has put Pakistan on the front line of the war on terrorism and provoked violent Islamic militancy within Pakistan and some grave policy choices for Pakistan itself. Rivenin addition by the natural disasters of earthquakes and floods and hobbled by political instability, economic woes, and deep social, religious and ethnic divisions, Pakistan has reached a point of great flux with important national and regional changes imminent. This collection of six essays focus on critical elements of this flux - political Islam, militancy and religious minorities, political patronage and democracy, the economic impacts of the floods and Pakistan's relations with the US and its regional foreign policy - to identify key trends which will shape Pakistan's future.
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| 6 |
ID:
113242
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2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The murders of Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti in 2011 shocked Pakistan and the international community, but equally shocking was the widespread support in Pakistan for their killings and their killers. Taseer and Bhatti's 'crime' in the eyes of many was to have supported the amendment or repeal of Islamic 'blasphemy laws' and to have come to the defence of a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen (Bibi), who was sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. This article seeks to explain the context to the murders of Taseer and Bhatti and to understand why these violent acts received such widespread national support. These murders highlight the worsening situation for Christians (and other religious minorities) in Pakistan and suggest that Pakistan itself may be moving in an increasingly conservative Islamist direction.
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| 7 |
ID:
113245
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This essay examines the arc of the US-Pakistan relations amid the developments of the last decade of the war on terror. It argues that Washington's pursuit of dehyphenated relations with India and Pakistan, and failure to follow through on early promises to Pakistan, made it more likely that Pakistan would again return to a policy of supporting the Taliban and increase Pakistan's dependence upon Islamist terror groups to prosecute its security interests. After a decade of fraught ties, culminating in a particularly tumultuous year in 2011, the US and Pakistan seemed poised for collision. With no remedy in sight, this rupture in the US-Pakistan relations will have enormous implications for regional and international security.
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