Pakistan A Hard Country: Hard is Good By Dr Farah Zahra Pakistan A Hard Country By Anatol Lieven Penguin Books; Pp 576;

6; Rs 1,295

For a while now, Pakistan has been the most diagnosed country in the world, most ly as a failing state where ownership of its nukes should be taken care of. But when a westerner negates this view and states that Pakistan is a hard state, it is new and interesting for Pakistanis as well as the international community. Quit e in keeping with his own person, Anatol Lieven has brought to his readers a bal anced account that seems hype-free. Essentially a book for the western audience, in particular the US and Britain, i t helps Pakistan to be viewed through a more relaxed lens. It is neither a book that pretends to, nor attempts to chart out details of how Pakistan may rid itse lf of its own problems. Nonetheless, given the propensity of western governments , the media and academics to take the alarmist view towards this country, this v iew is intended to craft better policies towards Pakistan by western states. With regard to the nuclear arena, where western concerns are most poignant, Anat ol courageously asserts that, the greatest dangers may not be Pakistani realities but US fears. What gives this book even more credibility is the acceptance among st western audiences that this is indeed a different view, one that is based on a more wholesome approach by the authors range of interviews with myriads of ordi nary people. It has been well received in the circles that it has been intended for. From the Pakistani perspective, in rejoicing that a western academic has gi ven a new outlook on the country that may mitigate the suspicions and fears in t he western world, it is sagacious to realise that at the same time, repairing th e image does have something to do with reality itself. Attempting to rectify Pak istans image is a separate issue, while attempting to change realities within the country may be different, considerably more difficult, and incidentally may als o be lacking in keen scholarship. Anatols book examines the land and people, the provinces, the politics and the Ta liban, and provides an especially involved analysis of domestic politics and the Taliban, depicting the authors keen understanding of the terrain. His long assoc iation with the country is also to be credited for the depth of his understandin g as he has remained interested in this country since his first stint here as a journalist for The Times in 1988. This, of course, also assisted him in formulat ing his links with politicians, the military and intelligentsia. So, as he returned to Pakistan to research this book, there were several influen tial and political families that aided his research by extending their hospitali ty. He names several personalities including Abida Hussain and Fakhr Iman, Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin. His section on politics therefore somehow aptly surmise s that if water is H2O then Pakistani politics is composed of P2K where P is pat riotism and K is kinship. It remains to be seen how effective this gora with a Jewish last name is in advi sing western governments, in particular the British government. Even though he h as received fairly good reviews all round, his detractors do try and put him dow n as the Pakistan militarys guy. Nonetheless, what he says in the book is difficult to find issue with (for any other military either). His fair and balanced views

in the International Herald Tribune, his comments on Pakistan on British radio channels and his unusual understanding of this country in seminars on terrorism should be ample testimony to his academic integrity. Even so, his views seem to be too benevolent in certain areas and for certain ac tors in the international community. For example, he hails the ecological challe nge to Pakistan as the greatest threat to the country in the long term. More det ail on that may have been expected by those who were happy to buy his argument t hat it is, in fact, even more significant than insurgency within the country. Bu t he does not dwell upon this much and seems a bit too optimistically dismissive in his faith in the country and its farmers resilience. On the other hand, he do es however honestly admit that there were times when he was writing the book tha t it seemed to him that he might have had to change the title to a requiem for the country. Some of his major policy advice to the US and Britain is that they should not dr eam of controlling Pakistan through a stronger India. He says, We should also not dream as US neo-conservatives are apt to do that India can somehow be used by t he US to control Pakistani behaviour. The truth.... is exactly the opposite, and furthermore, that a balance needs to be struck between the economic and security benefits to the West of closer ties to India and the security threats to the Wes t stemming from a growth of Islamist militancy in Pakistan. This book was officially released only three days before the news that US forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Anatol advised the US to obs erve restraint in its pressure on Pakistan. Drone attacks on Pakistans tribal are as have....not noticeably impaired the Afghan Talibans ability to go on fighting effectively, while causing outrage among Pakistanis. He seems strongly of the vie w that there must be no open intervention of US ground forces in FATA, as this ri sks outright mutiny in the Pakistan army. This is some of his most significant advice to the West for a much more generous attitude to helping Pakistan, which he feels is a hard country. It may indeed be a hard country because, in all its hardness, it may be a hard country to underst and, a hard country to fail or break down, a hard country to fix. Admittedly har d. The writer is a Fellow at the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. Source: The Daily Times, Lahore