The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics

New
Illustrated
2017
$27.50

Established as a homeland for India's Muslims in 1947, Pakistan has had a tumultuous history. Beset by assassinations, coups, ethnic strife, and the breakaway of Bangladesh in 1971, the country has found itself too often contending with religious extremism and military authoritarianism. Now, in a probing biography of her native land amid the throes of global change, Ayesha Jalal provides an insider's assessment of how this nuclear-armed Muslim nation evolved as it did and explains why its dilemmas weigh so heavily on prospects for peace in the region.
[An] important book...Ayesha Jalal has been one of the first and most reliable [Pakistani] political historians [on Pakistan]...The Struggle for Pakistan [is] her most accessible work to date...She is especially telling when she points to the lack of serious academic or political debate in Pakistan about the role of the military.
--Ahmed Rashid, New York Review of Books
[Jalal] shows that Pakistan never went off the rails; it was, moreover, never a democracy in any meaningful sense. For its entire history, a military caste and its supporters in the ruling class have formed an 'establishment' that defined their narrow interests as the nation's.
--Isaac Chotiner, Wall Street Journal

Synopsis

Established as a homeland for India's Muslims in 1947, Pakistan has had a tumultuous history. Beset by assassinations, coups, ethnic strife, and the breakaway of Bangladesh in 1971, the country has found itself too often contending with religious extremism and military authoritarianism. Now, in a probing biography of her native land amid the throes of global change, Ayesha Jalal provides an insider's assessment of how this nuclear-armed Muslim nation evolved as it did and explains why its dilemmas weigh so heavily on prospects for peace in the region.

[An] important book...Ayesha Jalal has been one of the first and most reliable [Pakistani] political historians [on Pakistan]...The Struggle for Pakistan [is] her most accessible work to date...She is especially telling when she points to the lack of serious academic or political debate in Pakistan about the role of the military.
--Ahmed Rashid, New York Review of Books

[Jalal] shows that Pakistan never went off the rails; it was, moreover, never a democracy in any meaningful sense. For its entire history, a military caste and its supporters in the ruling class have formed an 'establishment' that defined their narrow interests as the nation's.
--Isaac Chotiner, Wall Street Journal

$27.50

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20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 320
Edition: Bilingual
Publisher: Harvard UP
Published: 30 Nov 2017
ISBN 10: 0674979834
ISBN 13: 9780674979833

Media Reviews

[An] important book... Ayesha Jalal has been one of the first and most reliable [Pakistani] political historians [on Pakistan]... The Struggle for Pakistan [is] her most accessible work to date... She is especially telling when she points to the lack of serious academic or political debate in Pakistan about the role of the military.--Ahmed Rashid New York Review of Books (04/02/2015)
Perceptive and learned... [Jalal] shows that Pakistan never went off the rails; it was, moreover, never a democracy in any meaningful sense. For its entire history, a military caste and its supporters in the ruling class have formed an 'establishment' that defined their narrow interests as the nation's... While it is tempting to blame the generals for everything that has gone wrong in Pakistan, Jalal makes it clear that the civilian leadership has been corrupt, petty and small-minded, putting politics above the principle of civilian supremacy, especially when opponents are in power... The Struggle for Pakistan traces Pakistan's decline all the way up to the present.--Isaac Chotiner Wall Street Journal (12/26/2014)
How to restore that collective sense of identity, and its commitment to Pakistan is a challenge, which needs further analysis. Additionally, how to create a similar South Asian identity, and a commitment towards that is another key challenge. This book, particularly its attempt to reflect on the interface of politics and history, provides some clue about striving towards such a goal. Scholars of South Asia will profit from reading The Struggle for Pakistan, which excels in the art of writing simultaneously about the politics and history of a country whose normal life is vital for global peace.--Shaikh Mujibur Rehman Hindustan Times (02/28/2015)
The Struggle for Pakistan will be the definitive history of Pakistan for decades to come. The author's prose is clean, the book is thoughtfully structured, and the research is as close to exhaustive as one could imagine... Anyone attempting to see into Pakistan's future or better understand its complex past should read The Struggle for Pakistan... Jalal has accomplished something remarkable in presenting the history of Pakistan in such an engaging, comprehensive, and readable manner.--Zachary Stockill PopMatters (02/02/2015)
For many in the West, Pakistan is an enigma, a Muslim homeland that seems to have lost its way into a wilderness of perpetual crisis, extremism, and nuclear standoff with India. The Struggle for Pakistan is a perceptive look at the idea and reality of Pakistan, its history and future in the context of the global order, by one of the most preeminent scholars of South Asia. Well written and brimming with fact and insight.--Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat
Written by the world's most respected, prolific, and authoritative historian of Pakistan, The Struggle for Pakistan provides a thorough analysis of the country's politics from its creation to the present. It is the most useful point of departure for anyone who seeks to better understand Pakistan's military, religious, regional, and international politics today.--David Ludden, author of India and South Asia: A Short History

Author Bio

Ayesha Jalal is Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University.