Peculiar Features of the Historical Development of Pakistan Statehood
Abstract
The paper analyzes the main features of the historical development of Pakistan statehood. The idea of creating a «pure» Islamic state caused primarily the separation of Pakistan from British India in 1947. Since then, the Islamic factor has become crucial for the evolution of Pakistan statehood. Pakistan is a federation of tribes with weak central institutions, although the state has qualified post-colonial elite. Some Pakistani Muslims consider Islam to be a perfect religion that does not require a Western model of democracy. Others believe that Islam is democratic in its essence. In response, radical Islamists call Western forms of education incompatible with Islamic values. Pakistan political system is characterized by personalist authoritarianism as an authoritarian regime of power. Armed forces under the authoritarian regimes are not only the instrument of the power of ruling bureaucratic groups but also directly influence political processes, the transformation of social structures, development of the main trends of domestic and foreign policy. It is proved that the formation of the Pakistan political nation is complicated with interethnic, confessional, socio-economic and regional contradictions. Political elites in Pakistan had determined the confrontation with India as the strategic objective of the state. It is shown that the creation of atomic weapons only emphasized the asymmetry of the potential of India and Pakistan. The possession of atomic weapons could not solve the «tribal» problems of Pakistan statehood.
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