Pakistan: At the Crosscurrent of History

Born from a vision of political idealism, caught up in turmoil from its first day of Independence, this is the tale of one nation’s journey from the margins of history to the centre of the world stage. Forced into the spotlight by the international fight against terror, Pakistan has become a global player and an acknowledged nuclear power; today, struggling to balance Western influences with internal demands, it stands poised at the very crosscurrent of history. Lawrence Ziring, political scientist and longtime observer of the Pakistan scene, combines all the salient facts with astute analysis to track Pakistan’s history from the pre-Partition era, through independence in 1947, to its changing role in the post-9/11 world. Guiding us through three wars, and numerous periods of political instability and martial law, he offers a penetrating analysis of the conflicts between tradition and modernity, religion and secularity, which continue both to burden this Muslim country and to shape its destiny. Definitive, readable, and uncompromising, this new account is not a glib survey, but a roadmap through a rocky past, opening on to an uncertain future. Readers will find in this book all the historical and political insight they may need in their search for answers to the question burning in the minds of international powers and Pakistani citizens alike: “Whither Pakistan?”