New Perspectives on Pakistan: Visions for the Future

The Papers in this volume analyze and evaluate the problems and challenges that confront Pakistan as a dynamic, diverse and complex society undergoing modernization and change. The central argument of this book is that the contexts and contours of Pakistan are undergoing radical transformations; as the military realigns itself in the global arena; as Islamic forces re-evaluate and redesign their strategies in society; and as new dynamics with United States, China, Russia, India and Central Asian states are being forged. The papers in this volume, on the one hand, provide diverging and competing visions of Pakistan and on the other, reveal how traditional social order and culture are adapting to forces of modernization and globalization. It analyzes the issues of national identity and state formation, Islamization, rise of Jihadi groups and their relationship with the military; de-institutionalization of political parties; erosion of liberal values and challenges of constructing democracy, imperatives of state security and globalization. The book ventures to explain the disabilities, constraints, and missed opportunities and provides a new framework of dialogue and debate on the study of Pakistan. How Pakistan is responding to these domestic and global challenges need to be evaluated by focusing on the capacity and performance of the state and society.