Book Chapter - The Other Pakistan: Understanding the Military-Jihadi Complex

This is a draft of a chapter submitted to Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan, August 2017, Edited by Aparna Pande, ISBN: 9781138903715

Introduction

Pakistan is not one geopolitical entity, but two: the putative state (represented currently by a civilian government), and the military—jihadi complex that has captured the commanding heights of power. The inability to understand this duality of Pakistan has led to misplaced expectations, confounding outcomes and failed policies by states and international governments alike.

Policies towards Pakistan will continue to be ineffective unless the dominant of the two Pakistans i.e. this military—jihadi complex (MJC) is explicated with clarity and precision. This is exactly what this chapter will accomplish.

In this chapter, we deploy principles of Organisational Theory to decode what we mean by MJC. The chapter explains what the MJC comprises of, what the nodes of this complex are, what are the forces of cohesion and repulsion that affect the dynamics of this complex and finally, what are the operational processes deployed by the MJC to keep itself afloat.

This understanding of the MJC will help bridge the gap between expectations and outcomes of foreign policies towards Pakistan.

Authors