Research report published by Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington D.C. based think-tank.
Abstract: Why has the Pakistani army - the seventh-largest military machine in the world - battle-hardened in wars, ongoing border disputes, numerous external and internal campaigns, and peacekeeping missions, been so ineffective against the Taliban militia?
A stock explanation from analysts and officials alike is that the Pakistani military, with conventional warfare against archenemy India as its raison d'être, possesses inadequate capability to wage a successful counterinsurgency campaign. Moreover, the army isn't sufficiently motivated to battle its compatriots and coreligionists.
This conventional wisdom, however, is inadequate. It ignores Pakistan's long history of counter-insurgency, and obscures a deeper and more worrisome issue: Pakistan is facing ideological blowback from over five decades of using political Islam as a tool of domestic and foreign policy. Pakistan's predicament lies in the fundamental ideological orientation and mobilization of the state. READ FULL REPORT.
Abstract: Why has the Pakistani army - the seventh-largest military machine in the world - battle-hardened in wars, ongoing border disputes, numerous external and internal campaigns, and peacekeeping missions, been so ineffective against the Taliban militia?
A stock explanation from analysts and officials alike is that the Pakistani military, with conventional warfare against archenemy India as its raison d'être, possesses inadequate capability to wage a successful counterinsurgency campaign. Moreover, the army isn't sufficiently motivated to battle its compatriots and coreligionists.
This conventional wisdom, however, is inadequate. It ignores Pakistan's long history of counter-insurgency, and obscures a deeper and more worrisome issue: Pakistan is facing ideological blowback from over five decades of using political Islam as a tool of domestic and foreign policy. Pakistan's predicament lies in the fundamental ideological orientation and mobilization of the state. READ FULL REPORT.
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