Why the Pakistan Army is Here to Stay: Prospects for Civilian Governance?

Abstract

This essay explores the prospects for civilian governance over Pakistan’s military in the policy-relevant future. After reviewing the Pakistan army’s past interference in the country’s judicial and political affairs, it turns to the ongoing political maneuvering of the current Chief of Army Staff Kayani, despite Pakistan’s ostensible democratic dispensation. The article dilates upon the impacts of US engagement upon the robustness of the Pakistan army’s dominance and questions the newfound US commitment to promoting democratization and civilian control. This essay argues that while conventional wisdom places the onus disproportionately upon the military’s penchant for interventionism, the army has intervened only with the active assistance of civilian institutions which are subsequently further eroded with every military takeover. It concludes with a consideration of whether or not genuine civilian control would results in a significant change in Pakistan’s foreign and domestic policies, particularly Pakistan’s well-known utilization of Islamist militants in India and Afghanistan.