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

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. (June)