Pakistan: A New History by Ian Talbot

If Pakistan is to preserve all that is good about its country — the generosity and hospitality of its people, the dynamism of its youth — it must face the deterioration of its social and political institutions. Sidestepping easy headlines to identify Pakistan’s true dangers, this volume revisits the major turning points and trends of Pakistani history over the past six decades, focusing on the increasing entrenchment of Pakistan’s army in its political and economic arenas; the complex role of Islam in public life; the tensions between central and local identities and democratic impulses; and the affect of geopolitical influences on domestic policy and development.

While Ian Talbot’s study centers on Pakistan’s many failures — the collapse of stable governance, the drop in positive political and economic development, and, most of all, the unrealized goal of securing a separate Muslim state — his text unequivocally affirms Pakistan’s potential for a positive reawakening. These failures were not preordained, Talbot agues, and such a fatalistic reading does not respect the complexity of historical events, individual actors, and the state’s own rich resources. Talbot’s sensitive historical approach makes it clear that favorable opportunities still remain for Pakistan, in which the state has a chance to reclaim its priorities and institutions and reestablish political and economic sustainability.