Insecurity and Ambition (Paperback)

Fresh insights from a unique new data set inform understanding of Pakistan's strategic thinking

Is Pakistan an aggressive, revisionist state―or a deeply insecure one whose choices reflect anxiety as much as ambition? Outside observers and many scholars have assumed the former, attributing Pakistan's behavior to a strategic culture defined by hostility and risk acceptance. But this conclusion has rested on surprisingly thin evidentiary foundations, often relying on narrow samples of Pakistani sources to showcase continuity while overlooking debate, adaptation, and change.

Insecurity and Ambition seeks to remedy this by using a unique new data set of Pakistan's official and semiofficial strategic literature to examine how ideas, culture, and external pressures shape how the country's strategic thinkers talk about the goals, threats, and strategies that it should adopt as it confronts an uncertain world. Edited by Christopher Clary and Sameer Lalwani, the book features insights from leading and rising scholars, ensuring a balance of local and international perspectives on the most pressing contemporary security issues.

Scholars and practitioners of South Asian security and international relations from various research traditions will gain fresh insights into how Pakistan views India, United States–Pakistan relations, Pakistan's shift toward China, Pakistan's nuclear program, the climate crisis in South Asia, and more.

Christopher Clary is an associate professor of political science at the University of Albany and the author of The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia.

Sameer Lalwani is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a nonresident senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.