The U.S. Af-Pak Strategy: Challenges and Opportunities for Pakistan

Abstract

In this article, the author reviews the salient features of the Obama administration's strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Pakistan's corresponding counterterrorism response. He critically assesses how far Pakistan is able to tackle the challenges posed by the Af-Pak strategy and benefit from the opportunities it offers. The challenges pertain to Pakistan's alleged reliance on irregular warfare in South Asia as an instrument of national security policy, especially the continuing external perception regarding its security establishment's dual approach of practicing toughness toward home-grown domestic terrorists and leniency toward home-based regional terrorists. The opportunities include the possibility of a long-term strategic relationship with the United States and the creation of a regional security environment addressing Pakistan's pervasive sense of national insecurity, especially vis-à-vis Afghanistan and India. The author argues that the U.S. and Pakistani counterterrorism policies have converged in some areas, coincidentally or otherwise, although noticeable incompatibilities remain in others, as Pakistan is yet to undertake the required shift in its regional counterterrorism approach. However, U.S. pressure on Pakistan to bring about this shift is likely to recede amid current uncertainty in the Afghan war, including the possibility of a political compromise in which Pakistan's role may be crucial. The author concludes by arguing for the creation of a common security bond between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, backed by the United States and the rest of the international community, one that goes beyond realizing the Af-Pak strategy's core strategic objective of defeating al-Qaeda and its hardcore allies in the region.