Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description In recent years Pakistan has emerged as a strategic player on the world stage?both as a potential rogue state armed with nuclear weapons and as an American ally in the war against terrorism. But our understanding of this country is superficial.
To probe beyond the headlines, Stephen Cohen, author of the prize-winning India: Emerging Power, offers a panoramic portrait of this complex country?from its origins as a homeland for Indian Muslims to a military-dominated state that has experienced uneven economic growth, political chaos, sectarian violence, and several nuclear crises with its much larger neighbor, India.
Pakistan?s future is uncertain. Can it fulfill its promise of joining the community of nations as a moderate Islamic state, at peace with its neighbors, or could it dissolve completely into a failed state, spewing out terrorists and nuclear weapons in several directions? The Idea of Pakistan will be an essential tool for understanding this critically important country.
Buy This book from Amazon Shipping in Pakistan & Round the world available The Idea of Pakistan
One criticism of the book is that he mentions how the country was overrun with guns, drugs and afghans after the afghan war but fails to mention who supplied the guns and helped organize the drugs, probably because it was his own country. This is an important issue because afghans drugs and guns are the main reason behind the deteriorating security situation in the country today.
The author also appears to swallow the Indian view of the kashmir conflict post 1989, i would like to see evidence of this so-called “proxy war”. If the source is Indian then obviously it has to be mistrusted, and i suspect his sources are Indian since this is the language used by Indian officials.
Aside from that it is not a bad book and i feel it will benefit pakistanis to read it, but if you are a foriegner and you want to understand pakistan then you need to read other material as well such as the lonely planet guide to pakistan, which focusses more on Pakistan’s culture instead of its government. This book focuses mostly on the history of the top part of the pyramid-like power structure in the country, which isn’t as representative of the country or it’s history as you might believe.
Despite the criticism I gave the book three stars because in the end I enjoyed reading it and learned a few things as well.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is an interesting book that helps to illuminate many of Pakistans faces. The face of militarism, the various coups and dictators that have ruled the country such as Zia and Musharref. It highlights the politicians such as Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benezir as well as Newaz Sharif and Ali Jinnah. The role of Islamism is explained as well as the role of Sharia and Islamic law in Pakistan. There is some discussion as to the inter-ethnic and tribal problems of the country.
But this book lacks something and that seems to be honesty facing the brutal reality and the true history. Pakistan and India were born in the same manner, and yet one became a fascist religious dictatorship for most of its life, stoning women who are victims of rape, with radical terrorists using it as a base to murder innocent civilians abroad and overthrow neighboring countries. With Islam as a national religion it proceeded under fundamentalism to ethnically and religiously cleansed itself of every minority and made it illegal to ‘defame’ the ‘prophet’. Meanwhile India remained mutli-religious and democratic. Why? This book does not dare provide the answers.
There is no talk of how Pakistan was born either, how it was born in blood over the graves of over 100,000 Hindus and SIkhs murdered, and over the forced removal of millions of Sikh and Hindu refugees forced to flee Pakistan so that Pakistan would be 100% Muslim by 1949 while India would be only 75% Hindu.
So the pulling of punches and businesslike way this book is written leaves the reader wondering what else is missing.
Seth J. Frantzman
Rating: 4 / 5
Recommended read along with other books about Pakistan.
THREE CUPS OF TEA
AMONG MUSLIMS
WHERE THE INDUS IS YOUNG
ALIVE AND WELL IN PAKISTAN
THE GREAT GAME
Rating: 5 / 5
Pakistan can be a benign Canada or a hostile Cuba (with a bomb) for India. It is essential for Indians to understand Pakistan, its identity, ambitions, frustrations and pain points. Stephen Cohen provides a dispassionate, yet involved, understanding of Pakistan’s evolution as a nation, as a State and what future could have for Pakistan and therefore India.
A politically ambitious and strong army, a well entrenched “establishment” of feudal rich, corrupt and weak politics, increasing role of religion in public life, an identity that focusses against India, a growing population not matched by education and economic opportunities point to multiple paths that Pakistan could take in future.
Yet Mahbub ul Haq in 1985, Moeen Qureshi in 1993 and Shaukat Aziz in 2003 have demonstrated what good economic leadership can do to Pakistan.
The last chapter setting out options for US in dealing with Pakistan is a must read for Indians too. That way, the best fights between India and Pakistan would be in the well attended cricket matches than in the Himalayan valley.
Having seen, as an Indian, how the audience in India admire and appreciate Pakistan’s cricketers (and vice versa hopefully), I specifically endorse the author’s view that mere enhancement in interaction between the two populations would reduce the damage politics of both the countries can do to each other.
Rating: 4 / 5
The book is well laid out. First focusing on Pakistan’s history and than into its political insitutions. It is well written trying to explain what Pakistan is considering it is an aftifical country. By that I mean it is a country based on an idea but that idea is not well fleshed out. A religon competing with ethnic tensions plus the history of being part of the British Empire. Mr. cohen also lays out how the United States ought to address our relationship with Pakistan which is quite insightful.I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
One criticism of the book is that he mentions how the country was overrun with guns, drugs and afghans after the afghan war but fails to mention who supplied the guns and helped organize the drugs, probably because it was his own country. This is an important issue because afghans drugs and guns are the main reason behind the deteriorating security situation in the country today.
The author also appears to swallow the Indian view of the kashmir conflict post 1989, i would like to see evidence of this so-called “proxy war”. If the source is Indian then obviously it has to be mistrusted, and i suspect his sources are Indian since this is the language used by Indian officials.
Aside from that it is not a bad book and i feel it will benefit pakistanis to read it, but if you are a foriegner and you want to understand pakistan then you need to read other material as well such as the lonely planet guide to pakistan, which focusses more on Pakistan’s culture instead of its government. This book focuses mostly on the history of the top part of the pyramid-like power structure in the country, which isn’t as representative of the country or it’s history as you might believe.
Despite the criticism I gave the book three stars because in the end I enjoyed reading it and learned a few things as well.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is an interesting book that helps to illuminate many of Pakistans faces. The face of militarism, the various coups and dictators that have ruled the country such as Zia and Musharref. It highlights the politicians such as Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benezir as well as Newaz Sharif and Ali Jinnah. The role of Islamism is explained as well as the role of Sharia and Islamic law in Pakistan. There is some discussion as to the inter-ethnic and tribal problems of the country.
But this book lacks something and that seems to be honesty facing the brutal reality and the true history. Pakistan and India were born in the same manner, and yet one became a fascist religious dictatorship for most of its life, stoning women who are victims of rape, with radical terrorists using it as a base to murder innocent civilians abroad and overthrow neighboring countries. With Islam as a national religion it proceeded under fundamentalism to ethnically and religiously cleansed itself of every minority and made it illegal to ‘defame’ the ‘prophet’. Meanwhile India remained mutli-religious and democratic. Why? This book does not dare provide the answers.
There is no talk of how Pakistan was born either, how it was born in blood over the graves of over 100,000 Hindus and SIkhs murdered, and over the forced removal of millions of Sikh and Hindu refugees forced to flee Pakistan so that Pakistan would be 100% Muslim by 1949 while India would be only 75% Hindu.
So the pulling of punches and businesslike way this book is written leaves the reader wondering what else is missing.
Seth J. Frantzman
Rating: 4 / 5
Recommended read along with other books about Pakistan.
THREE CUPS OF TEA
AMONG MUSLIMS
WHERE THE INDUS IS YOUNG
ALIVE AND WELL IN PAKISTAN
THE GREAT GAME
Rating: 5 / 5
Pakistan can be a benign Canada or a hostile Cuba (with a bomb) for India. It is essential for Indians to understand Pakistan, its identity, ambitions, frustrations and pain points. Stephen Cohen provides a dispassionate, yet involved, understanding of Pakistan’s evolution as a nation, as a State and what future could have for Pakistan and therefore India.
A politically ambitious and strong army, a well entrenched “establishment” of feudal rich, corrupt and weak politics, increasing role of religion in public life, an identity that focusses against India, a growing population not matched by education and economic opportunities point to multiple paths that Pakistan could take in future.
Yet Mahbub ul Haq in 1985, Moeen Qureshi in 1993 and Shaukat Aziz in 2003 have demonstrated what good economic leadership can do to Pakistan.
The last chapter setting out options for US in dealing with Pakistan is a must read for Indians too. That way, the best fights between India and Pakistan would be in the well attended cricket matches than in the Himalayan valley.
Having seen, as an Indian, how the audience in India admire and appreciate Pakistan’s cricketers (and vice versa hopefully), I specifically endorse the author’s view that mere enhancement in interaction between the two populations would reduce the damage politics of both the countries can do to each other.
Rating: 4 / 5
The book is well laid out. First focusing on Pakistan’s history and than into its political insitutions. It is well written trying to explain what Pakistan is considering it is an aftifical country. By that I mean it is a country based on an idea but that idea is not well fleshed out. A religon competing with ethnic tensions plus the history of being part of the British Empire. Mr. cohen also lays out how the United States ought to address our relationship with Pakistan which is quite insightful.I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: 5 / 5