''The Idea of Pakistan'' is a book written by the American political scientist
Stephen P. Cohen
Stephen Philip Cohen (1936 – October 27, 2019) was an American political scientist and professor of security studies. He was a prominent expert on India, Pakistan and South Asian security, He was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at ...
.
First published in 2004, the book attempts to answer the question of "What is
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
?" and goes beyond the simplistic labels given to this south-Asian nation; by unravelling Pakistan's past, Cohen wants to predict the nation's future and how the idea of Pakistan will work.
Background and content
The book is a followup to ''India: Emerging Power'' and prepares the way for ''The Future of Pakistan'', written in 2012, which was drawn from the concluding chapter of ''The Idea of Pakistan''.
In the book Steve Cohen discusses the "idea of Pakistan, the state of Pakistan, regionalism and separation, demographic, educational and economic prospects, Pakistan's future and American options" among other things.
Towards the end, Cohen outlines five futures for Pakistan (implicitly saying that the future will consist of a mix of each rather than any single one). These scenarios are: "the emergence of a moderate, democratic state; the rise of authoritarianism; the rise of an Islamist state; Pakistan’s possible breakup and Pakistan after a major war with India".
Cohen notes how the vision of Pakistan as a state for the Muslims of South Asia was torn apart with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Ahmad Faruqui notes how Cohen acknowledges that "the relentless pursuit of Kashmir has done more damage to Pakistan than any other single issue".
He says that the vision of a democratic state "is doubtful whether the Pakistani military with its oversized political agenda will ever let this vision come to pass," adding that "the Pakistani army is long on memory and short on foresight".
Ahmad Faruqui notes how the "book’s implicit hypothesis is that Pakistan's insecurities have led to military rule".
Cohen also blames the politicians for being unable to make a state that fulfills basic obligations to its citizens.
Reviews and reactions
''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' writes that the book "is a detailed biography of a state let down by men as well as history, with every act of salvation ending as betrayal...".
Rizwan Web of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies writes that Cohen says that Pakistan is run by the "
Establishment
Establishment may refer to:
* The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization
* The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England
* The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...
" comprising various elites; a group which
believes that India has to be countered, nuclear weapons have secured Pakistan, Kashmir is the unfinished part of the partition plan, and large-scale social reforms are unacceptable, vocal Muslim nationalism is desirable but Islamism is not; Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
should not be trusted but should be taken maximum advantage of.
The book also provides a view of how Washington can advance its interests in South Asia.
Qadar Bakhsh Baloch of
Qurtuba University
Qurtuba University (QU) was established in 2001. Qurtuba is Arabic variation of name of Córdoba, Spain, in Al-Andalus nowadays Spain.It has two campuses in Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar Pakistan from Both are separately recognized and are placed i ...
writes, "The basic theme of the book is that the Idea of Pakistan has fallen short of its ideas and the biggest question today is how the idea of Pakistan will work".
However Baloch writes: "Cohen's facts are questionable, his logic manipulative, and his omissions are deliberate and meaningful".
In
''Outlook magazine'', Indian politician
Jaswant Singh
Major Jaswant Singh (; 3 January 193827 September 2020) was an officer of the Indian Army and an Indian Cabinet Minister. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was one of India's longest serving parliamen ...
cites Cohen, who says that "this 'Indian dimension of Pakistan's identity'
as..systematically overlooked by contemporary Pakistani politicians and scholars"; this, according to Singh, "creates a cruel dilemma—for it can neither be rejected nor acknowledged by Pakistan. How to reject the reality of one geography, or pervert totally a common historical past?"
See also
*
The Idea of India
* ''
Military Inc.''
References
External links
*
Book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
on
Archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idea of Pakistan, The
2004 non-fiction books
History books about Pakistan