[.ca] Pakistan: Eye of the Storm (ISBN 0300101473)

College-level readers will find it involving:
Pakistan's turbulent history and military rule is treated to a scholarly and in-depth analysis which describes many of the problems of modern Pakistan with an eye to probing their historical roots. Jones assesses regional conflict and influence within the country and provides an important, scholarly assessment of Pakistan's underlying foundations. College-level readers will find it involving.

Amazed at the reviewers ...:
Do not pay attention at the other reviews of the book. It seem to me that that writer wrote this book only by watching CNN. I think I can say same about the reviewers.. Pakistan is much more, it's people and land offers much more. True, Pakistan inherited tons of problems, but this is also true that Pakistan is capable and willing to solve those issues. Just size, looted wealth, technology acquired in charity does not make nations great. This book miserably failed to reflect any light on the Tiger of Asia.

An amazing insight into Pakistani politics:
This book is without a doubt the best ever book one can find on Pakistani politics. It covers every aspect in detail from the 1999 Coup, the Kashmir Crisis-Kargil, Democracy in Pakistan as well as other internal issues. The author obviously through his decade long experience has got a great deal of insight knowledge from his experiences for reporting for the BBC for which he made the wise choice for publishing his thoughts in this book. If you're a student or even a curious reader liking books on Asian or especially Pakistani related politics, then look no further than this book as it is the best one out there. I read it all in 3 days and still do repeatedly as I've used it for reference for many university related projects.

A Satisfying Read:
Bennett-Jones uses his journalistic eye to present a wide-ranging account of Pakistan from 1947 to today divided into broad themes. Ordinary Pakistani friends of mine may not like his book since it is very harsh in places but overall he is a man who understands Pakistan well. He paints a picture of Pakistan that holds lessons for all policy planners in India - that the pillars of the Pakistan state are the Army, the Islamic lobby, the Mohajirs and the indigenous populations of Sindh, Baluchistan, NWFP and Punjab. In particular the Punjabi lobby and the role of the Army are well-explained. For Indians wishing to understand Pakistan it holds the answer to the conundrum of how we ought to deal with a difficult relationship - we ought to deal with Pakistan at different levels. The one element I did not see explored in detail is the cost to Pakistan of a consistently anti-Indian stance the Pakistan Army has foisted on the polity. Surely this has distorted spending, and apart from the obvious data related to defense spending no other implications (sociological, economic) are explored. Still, a very satisfying read.

A Good analysis on Pakistan:
From humble beginning Pakistan came to existence in 1947, for the first 55 years of its independence it was internationally regarded as an obscure muslim state and a pesky irritant neighbor to India. Only recently after September, the prevalent perception has not changed; but only with an addition that Pakistan is a frontline ally for the fight against terrorism. It is this event that caused a great desire for west to gain understanding of the region. The fight for Pakistan came from the people under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah; a dynamic savvy intellect and statesmen who placed the need for an independent muslim nation to the British colonizers. I claim Jinnah as dynamic savvy intellect not from a feeling of reverence; but more from the following two facts. Jinnah is the only leader who carved a nation peacefully without firing a bullet; also Jinnah is the only statesman to have created a nation without getting arrested. Interestingly Jinnah is an Oxford law graduate, who campaigned for Pakistan by applying British laws and customs against the British rulers and emerging with his objective. At its inception Pakistan was faced with the following issues: 1. Defense. 2. Kashmir. 3. Economy 4. Distance between East and West Pakistan. 5. Domestic divisions. 6. Immigrants from India. Defense and Kashmir are synonymous to the politics there; since its inception the state has felt threatened by India; lacking the strategic depth the government went all out to create a meaningful defense mechanism with its meager resources. This threat evolved the foreign policy of being a countering agent to India. Pakistan is analogous to a small puppy which to compensate its size barks at every threat. The defense of Pakistan is in a very complex way tied to the Kashmir issue; unsettled over the last 55 years. India with having more resources was able to close its differences and began a pre-partition diplomatic negotiations to gain the state of Kashmir, while Jinnah with an air of confidence would state that "Kashmir will fall in our lap" were caught off guard. This cause of contention still exists even after having fought three wars. The integrity of Pakistan was also threatened by the distance between the East and West; causing a central government nightmare. After the creation the East Pakistan was ethically divided into Sindhi, Pukhtoon, Punjabi and each group was more keen on self-autonomy than join the nation. This over time had caused considerable dissention, especially since the muslim immigrants from India were more educated and were able to fill the void of the beau racy vacated by the British. The locals treated them with utmost suspicion and without a political clout were unable to forward their views as debate in the assembly houses. This lead to a division along ethnic lines. Taking into perspective the lack of resources and structure prevalent at independence; Pakistan has come a long way but still further development has to be done. It still faces from a sense of insecurity from India and at present there is an irritant factor of fundamentalism.