25 October 2009: Sunday Express
PAKISTAN is facing its greatest challenge since the country split apart in 1971.
After nine years of military rule its elected politicians have proved no better able to resolve its chronic economic and political problems.
A home-grown violent militancy has emerged, distinct from Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban yet more dangerous. The stakes are high. With nuclear weapons and a population over five times that of Afghanistan, the country must not become ungovernable.
While it must fall to Pakistan to sort itself out, it also needs help.
The US and others must make sustained efforts to strengthen the country’s weak institutions to enable them to provide opportunities for ordinary Pakistanis. Above all, the non-military resources and political power of the army must gradually be rebalanced in favour of the civilian sector and elected government bodies.
Sir Hilary Synnott is Consulting Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and was British High Commissioner in Pakistan 2000-2003. His book Transforming Pakistan: Ways Out of Instability was published by IISS last month.
