civil–military relations
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Book Review: The Battle for Pakistan by Shuja Nawaz
A review of Shuja Nawaz’s The Battle for Pakistan, praised for balanced treatment of civil-military imbalance and foreign policy since 9/11. The reviewer discloses a personal debt to Nawaz from…
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Review: The Army and Democracy by Aqil Shah
A review of Aqil Shah’s The Army and Democracy, supplied by Major Amin, who agrees with the thesis but disputes Shah’s view of Jinnah, arguing that the 1916 Lucknow Pact…
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An Extension for General Bajwa
Hamid Hussain criticises the three-year extension Imran Khan announced for army chief General Bajwa, arguing it has nothing to do with national security and is bad for both the army…
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Pakistan’s Pseudo-Revolution Marches on..
The author argues that Pakistan’s army put Imran Khan in office in 2018 and that the middle class’s belief in revolution is mistaken, since GHQ wants to harden the existing…
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Review: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate: Covert Action and Internal Operations
A review, sent in by Major Agha Amin, of Owen Sirrs’s book on Pakistan’s ISI, setting out the questions the author asks about its evolution, relations with the CIA, abuse…
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Forbidden Fruit. Military in Politics in Pakistan
An article from 2003 by Dr Hamid Hussain on how soldiers become involved in politics, tracing the politicisation of Pakistan’s officer corps and how repeated military rule has militarised politics,…
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Book Review: Pakistan Adrift by Asad Durrani
Hamid Hussain reviews Asad Durrani’s memoir Pakistan Adrift, finding the former ISI chief candid about his own mistakes, including distributing money to politicians, and a revealing guide to power at…
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Captain Pakistan and the Faustian Pact
In seven points on Pakistan’s 2018 election, the author argues Imran Khan has made a Faustian bargain with the army, grants vote fudging but welcomes democracy taking seed and the…
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Pakistan Elections 2018
Omar Ali previews Pakistan’s July 2018 election, arguing that the army, through its intelligence agencies and ISPR, has spent a year and a half campaigning against Nawaz Sharif and his…
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Judicial Jitters in Pakistan. A look back..
Omar Ali reposts Hamid Hussain’s 2007 essay for context on Pakistan’s judicial controversies. Hussain argues that when politics is militarised and the judiciary and army brass politicised, the system stays…
