Stephen Cohen defines the Pakistan army succinctly, there are three types of armies that guard their nation's borders, there are those that are concerned by protecting their own position in society, and there are those which defend a cause or an idea. The Pakistan army does all three.
Islamic Pakistan was defined in reaction to a Hindu India. Hussain Haqqani.
Another interesting observation is that the Army was sort of encouraged by Jinnah to act independently when he was convinced into receding his earlier order of attacking Kashmir in 1947 by the British COAS. Notice India still had a British governor general, thus avoiding any friction in carrying out orders.
Coming from an army background myself, there was little I didn't know of Pakistan Army's business ventures, but the book still provided a comprehensive breakdown of the huge numbers involved. Milbus has managed to create a new class of urban feudal class in Pakistan, one which seems even lucrative to the legacy feudal of the rural variety.
I found the book very difficult to digest as it reads like a PhD dissertation crammed with heavy stats, numbers and pretty boring facts. Ayesha could have masse the book a lot more interesting by introducing some candid interviews of army personal who do make very interesting interviewees.
Islamic Pakistan was defined in reaction to a Hindu India. Hussain Haqqani.
Another interesting observation is that the Army was sort of encouraged by Jinnah to act independently when he was convinced into receding his earlier order of attacking Kashmir in 1947 by the British COAS. Notice India still had a British governor general, thus avoiding any friction in carrying out orders.
Coming from an army background myself, there was little I didn't know of Pakistan Army's business ventures, but the book still provided a comprehensive breakdown of the huge numbers involved. Milbus has managed to create a new class of urban feudal class in Pakistan, one which seems even lucrative to the legacy feudal of the rural variety.
I found the book very difficult to digest as it reads like a PhD dissertation crammed with heavy stats, numbers and pretty boring facts. Ayesha could have masse the book a lot more interesting by introducing some candid interviews of army personal who do make very interesting interviewees.
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