Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military

Abstract

Ambassador Husain Haqqani served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008-2011 and is widely credited with managing a difficult partnership during a critical phase in the global war on terrorism. Considered an expert on radical Islamist movements, he is currently Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute in Washington DC. Amb. Haqqani also co-edits the journal Current Trends in Islamist ideology. Amb. Haqqani has been a journalist, academic and diplomat, in addition to serving as advisor to four Pakistani Prime Ministers, including the late Benazir Bhutto. He received Hilal-e-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan's highest civilian honors for public service. His 2005 book Pakistan Between Mosque and Military was acclaimed for explaining the roots of Pakistan's foreign and domestic policies. His book Magnificent Delusions: US, Pakistan and an Epic History of Misunderstanding, which came out in November 2013, has been described in the media as "the most clear-eyed history of the US-Pakistan relationship yet published."

War or peace tweets? The case of Pakistan

“…The Taliban conflict is one of the deadliest conflict in the recent history of Pakistan. After 9/11, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was accused of harboring Al-Qaeda terrorists (Haqqani, 2005).…”

“…Pakistan, an important neighbor of Afghanistan had close ties with the Taliban fighters and was forced to join the US-led war on terroran act that infuriated the Taliban fighters in Pakistan. In retaliation, local Taliban forces started attacking the Pakistan military installations (Musharraf, 2006;Rashid, 2008) and formed the Taliban Movement of Pakistan (See Haqqani, 2005). The Pakistan government then deployed more than 200,000 soldiers in the tribal and adjacent areas.…”

From pulpit to marketplace: The evolution of religious political parties in Pakistan

“…) However, in the specific case of Pakistan, less attention has been paid to the dissolution of the political process of democratization (even though this took place very late in the country's history) alongside the ongoing rise of religious extremism aided by far-right and terrorist organizations. The literature on religious authorities and their role in society generally highlights militarism and the extremist views of the ulema-state alliance (see, e.g., Abbas, 2005;Ahmed, 2012;Haqqani, 2005;Jalal, 2008;Mostofa, 2023). Zaman (2002) underscores the flexibility of the religious leadership to modern challenges, but his study focuses on those religious leaders or scholars who have excelled in their training surrounding religious texts and Islamic jurisprudence.…”

Role of Islam in the Foreign Policy of Pakistan – From Past to Present

“…During the time of crisis between East and West Pakistan, religion as an ideology was used to strengthen the bond between the two parts of Pakistan (Ali, 2017). Since Pakistan's establishment in 1947, state institutions, especially the institutions of national security such as intelligence and military services, have played an important part in building a national identity of Pakistan based on religion (Haqqani, 2005).…”