Aqil Shah is Wick Cary Assistant Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
[An] important new book… The military has hitherto escaped
accountability because, as Aqil Shah explains in The Army and
Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan, it has always resisted
democratic control. Shah traces its praetorian instincts to the
seminal conflict over Kashmir, which set the tenor of the relations
between military and civilian institutions… Shah is rightly
scathing of the military’s role in politics.
*The Nation*
[An] important book.
*New York Review of Books*
[Shah’s] chronicle charts the army’s rise on the heels of its
British forerunner, which treated politics as beyond its scope. In
contrast, exploiting the young state’s weak solidarity, the
Pakistan Army steered public policy, buoyed by pride that persists…
Shah is commendably balanced and thorough. His narrative taps
archive material, military documents, and more than 100 interviews
with Pakistani officers, politicians and civil servants: political
science indeed. The Army and Democracy successfully conveys the
Borgia-like high drama of traditional Islamabad politics.
*South China Morning Post*
[This] rich and skillfully argued book leaves no doubt about the
military’s central responsibility in blighting the course of
Pakistan’s democratization. While some may see [Shah’s] approach as
too forgiving of Pakistan’s politicians, his is a fresh and
original perspective that demands serious consideration.
*Times Higher Education*
This book is a focused and timely analysis of what has gone badly
wrong in Pakistan, and what could be done to correct the situation.
It will hopefully inspire Pakistanis who care for their
country—both inside and outside the armed forces—to reform their
political order; otherwise extremist Islam will destroy their
polity and convulse the region in violence.
*Business Standard*
There would not be a better time to read Professor Shah’s
wonderfully nuanced, well-referenced and yet fast-paced book than
after the recent almost two-month-long ‘civil–military coalition’
attempt to impose its will on an elected PM and parliament… Shah
has excelled in showing that, since the fateful invasion of Kashmir
in October 1947, the military has become increasingly politicized
and distant, unlike the Indian army, from the professional
apolitical ethos both had inherited from the British army… Shah
gives a series of very timely policy prescriptions to balance the
civil–military equation in favor of the former, making his work
urgent reading for Pakistan watchers and Pakistani politicians
alike.
*Daily Times*
With a clarity and directness that is refreshing, The Army and
Democracy attributes Pakistan’s lack of democratization to the
military’s formal and informal political interventions, further
suggesting that this has, on the balance, greatly impacted the
state’s ability to effectively resolve the perennial problems of
ethnic conflict, governance, and growth that have blighted
Pakistan’s history… The Army and Democracy is arguably at its most
interesting and informative when it details the socialization
process that takes place within the military. Through his analysis
of the military’s publications and training materials, as well as
his interviews with military personnel, Shah provides a rare
insight into the internal workings of the military mind… The Army
and Democracy is an extremely accessible read that will undoubtedly
be of great value to experts in the field as well as a more general
audience.
*Dawn*
Based on archival material and more than 100 interviews with
politicians, civil servants and military officers, including four
services chiefs and three heads of the Inter-Services Intelligence,
and assessment of military writings, Shah’s book provides deep
insight into the military mind… The Army and Democracy is a
treasure trove of information on civil–military relations in
Pakistan. It is also a lesson on what the country needs the most at
this critical juncture—a politics of inclusion by all stakeholders,
rather than exclusion.
*Express Tribune*
The book makes for fine analysis but is a pessimistic read. The
Pakistan army’s attitudes towards elected leaders, India, and
citizens of Pakistan has not changed since it indulged in the first
coup there. These assumptions go back almost to the start of the
country’s independent life and have not changed since. Shah’s book,
which was researched in recent years, is one more example that
little has changed at the general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
*Mint*
An excellent addition to the existing literature on the conflation
of civil and military roles in the politics of Pakistan. The book
uncovers many myths about the army and informs us about the
strategic, political and social ramifications of the khaki
adventures since the incursion in Kashmir in 1948 which sowed the
seeds of military insubordination. The book is a result of rigorous
research and a labor of love… Aqil Shah has authentically mapped
Army’s institutional development, its professional and political
expansion, and taking over of policy and consequently the society…
The book…weaves an engaging narrative that fascinatingly tells the
unique story of Pakistan’s military which has defied global trends
of democratic waves… Whenever Pakistan Army decides to produce a
new breed and generation of thinking officers, as against the
current majority of believing officers, this book will be handy for
a non-offensive unlearning.
*The News on Sunday*
It not only helps understand the current crisis but also helps us
see into the future… Shah shows that the Pakistan Army has always
had the final say in running the country, whether they are in power
or are running the country from behind the scenes. This serves to
demonstrate that Pakistan Army’s hold on Pakistan is stronger than
ever. This highly readable book is a must-read for everyone who
wants to know what went wrong with Pakistan and why… The best book
on the subject.
*thewashingtonbookreview.com*
Aside from providing a superb study of Pakistani civil–military
relations, Shah makes an important and more general scholarly
contribution: he explains why new polities fracture under
challenging security environments and identifies the impulses that
compel generals to both shift their gaze abroad and intervene in
politics.
*Zoltan Barany, author of The Soldier and the Changing State:
Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the
Americas*
Shah’s book stands tall among the few serious books on Pakistan and
its army. Given Pakistan’s likely importance for the near future,
it will be received warmly by both the policy community and anyone
else interested in this critical region.
*Stephen P. Cohen, author of Shooting for a Century: The
India-Pakistan Conundrum*
A remarkable exploration of the role of the Pakistani army in
politics since 1947. Shah brilliantly exposes the porousness of,
and the connivance between, the nation’s civilian and military
spheres. He shows that the army was not the sole villain of the
play: domestic politicians and American backers have played key
roles in making military rule possible.
*Christophe Jaffrelot, author of The Pakistan Paradox:
Instability and Resilience*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
