28 May 2012
Pakistan On The Brink With Ahmed Rashid
In this audio presentation, Ahmed Rashid elaborates on his book "Pakistan on the Brink." He ascribes this nation's chronic instability to the twin failures of civilian and military leadership; the persistence of Cold War thinking in Pakistan's strategic calculations, particularly in the case of India; and the use of terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy, which has now come back to haunt Pakistan domestically. Rashid then goes on to critique the Obama administration's faulty handling of the 'Afghanistan/Pakistan conundrum'. The problems here include Obama's personal disengagement, the fragmentation of the US policy processes, and the overemphasis on military priorities to the detriment of political goals. Finally, the speaker-author concludes his head-shaking critique by highlighting the need for a careful American withdrawal from Afghanistan that will ideally ensure some stability not only for the latter, but also for Pakistan.
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Copyright the University of California
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