The Pakistan of today is a far cry from the country that its founders envisaged. Far from being a progressive state founded on Islam, it has today become one of the most frightening places on earth, possessing thirty to fifty nuclear weapons, a dozen or so private Islamic armies and a militant agenda that has thrown its own society into ferment. The developments in Pakistan are of special concern to its neighbour India. And the man who will determine Pakistan’s future course at this crucial juncture is the little-known and enigmatic General Pervez Musharraf. In this book, Mary Anne Weaver elucidates a country in turmoil through two decades of eyewitness reporting and unparalleled access to Pakistan’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Generals and Politicians. Here are rare and revealing portraits of General Musharraf, who rose through the ranks to become Benazir Bhutto’s Chief of Military Operations and then assumed control in a historic military coup; of General Zia, who launched Pakistan on its present militant Islamist course while at the same time transforming it into the hub of U.S. Policy on the Indian subcontinent; and of Benazir Bhutto herself—charismatic, imperious, conflicted, commanding and the first Woman Prime Minister of an Islamic country. Weaver provides an essential background for those seeking to understand Pakistan and the problems confronting the international community, and poses some deeply disturbing questions about the future of conflict in South Asia. Pakistan: in the Shadow of Jihad and Afghanistan stands as a compelling and significant testament to an enormously complex nation.
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