Pakistan on the Brink

The New York Review of Books by Ahmed Rashid | May. 15, 2009 (Special Report)

The army has always defined Pakistan's national security goals. Currently it has two strategic interests: first, it seeks to ensure that a balance of terror and power is maintained with respect to India, and the jihadis are seen as part of this strategy. Second, the army supports the Afghan Taliban as a hedge against US withdrawal from Afghanistan and also against Indian influence in Kabul, which has grown considerably. Containing the domestic jihadi ... Full Story »

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4.0

by Derek Hawkins - May. 15, 2009

The bleakest but most convincing assessment of the situation in Pakistan I've yet seen. Other journalists have cast the government as being in far greater control than Rashid does here. Excellent story, lots of concrete details, solid narrative.

Pakistan is close to the brink, perhaps not to a meltdown of the government, but to a permanent state of anarchy, as the Islamist revolutionaries led by the Taliban and ... More »

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3.7

by Fabrice Florin - May. 15, 2009

Informative overview on Pakistan's prospects for standing up to the Taliban, by Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid. This article is factual, well-researched and insightful.

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4.0

by Kaizar Campwala - May. 15, 2009

A bleak assessment of the situation in Pakistan by an expert journalist on the region. Rashid offers deep context to his assertion that Pakistan is 'On the brink".

Kaizar posted this story.

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