The Obama administration and (even more clearly) Senators including John Kerry have tried to shift the emphasis from a security-centered approach to a more civil society-oriented one. But it has been handicapped by the limited power of Pakistan’s civilian rulers and the contradictions of its own agenda, long-term objectives in terms of development being undermined by short-term security-centered goals which has led the Obama administration – possibly under some pressure from the Pentagon – to recognize the Pakistani military as its main interlocutors. Once again, the military-based clientelistic pattern prevailed, the Pakistani army being the United States’ true partner, just as it was before.
About the Speaker
