Pakistan: Democracy, Terrorism, and the Building of a Nation - Softcover

Iftikhar Malik

3.55

22 ratings by Goodreads

9781566568166: Pakistan: Democracy, Terrorism, and the Building of a Nation

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1566568161 ISBN 13: 9781566568166

Publisher: Olive Branch Pr, 2010

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Opinionated and critical look at the challenges facing Pakistan at this critical juncture in its history

As the fall-out of the US-led "war on terror" continues to destabilize the countries of the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan and its fate are never out of the headlines. How did this predominantly Muslim country of 175 million reach this critical state? And what does the future hold in the face of such political and social upheaval?

This clear, comprehensive book synthesizes the complex issues facing Pakistan today while remaining cautiously optimistic about the future of a pluralistic nation caught between civic and military imperatives. Professor Malik examines: the country's strategic geopolitical position; the main characters who have shaped the nation; the legacy of Partition and the role of civil society as a force for change; the vexing problems of good governance; and the parts played by Political Islam and Jihadi extremism, and by the West in its use of Pakistan as a buffer state.

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About the Author:

Iftikhar Malik is a professor of history at Bath Spa University and has taught at Oxford University and Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. He is the author of many books and journal articles including: The History of Pakistan (2008), Islam and Modernity: Muslims in Europe and the United States (2004), Jihad, Hindutva and the Taliban (2005) and State and Civil Society in Pakistan: Politics of Authority, Ideology and Ethnicity (1997). He lives in Oxford and in Bath.

From Publishers Weekly:

Prominent author and professor Malik takes an in-depth look at the history and development of a country often at war, shrouded in distrust and uncertainty, and struggling to maintain its status as a nuclear power. Beneath the country's desire to hold on to its nuclear threat is the fear of an attack from India, a prominent and close enemy. Pakistan's Pushtun Taliban have created huge problems in the West, but at home, distrust of U.S. and British powers is rampant; the war on terror is often labeled by Pakistanis as a war on Islam. Malik discuses politics with an optimistic textbook approach that illuminates what Pakistan has suffered in its struggle to maintain a fragile Democracy. Malik examines the country's shift to the epicenter of violence, highlighting the country's leaders as, largely, cults of personality who ignore advice from other acting members of government and make promises they don't intend to keep. Malik's impressive knowledge of the region makes this most complicated of countries easy to grasp.
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