Pakistan is a country that, since its creation, has been rooted in turmoil. Since 1988, power has been divided among the president, the prime minister and the military. Tensions between the three, however, have led to many changes of government and several elections. No elected leader has ever completed a full term in office. Stringent relationship with India over the Kashmir dispute, uncertain political and religious situation in Pakistan make the future of this country unpredictable.
The conflict between India and Pakistan has been going on since their birth as independent nations in 1947. Their first conflict arose over the question of separating the Hindus into India and the Muslims into Pakistan. The Muslims and Hindus had been living in relative harmony in India during the reign of the British Empire, but, when India's independence movement was started, extreme Muslim leaders began to petition for a separate Muslim state.
President George W. Bush, of the United States, li...
English: Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf. Port...
Donald Rumsfeld, American Secretary of Defense, an...Once the British gave up its control over subcontinent in 1947, the Islamic state of Pakistan and the Hindu state of India were created. Since the creation of Pakistan, relations with India had worsened. These relations reflect a centuries old rivalry between Hindus and Muslims (Banks, pp. 715-717).
After the cold war, many third world countries were abandoned by their protectorates - United States and Russia. The end of the cold war didn't brought new pragmatic thinking on foreign policy to Pakistan that could make Pakistan less reliant on Western support and allow it to develop closer ties with its neighbors. The growing gap between rich and poor, the economic crisis, massive corruption, and widespread disillusionment with the major political parties are the main problems with Pakistan today. Pakistan can no longer raise the necessary revenues to maintain a country in which eighty-one percent of the budget goes to defense...