In the backdrop of the operation against Osama, a topical read can be ‘Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the future of the global jihad’ by Bruce Riedel (Harper).
For instance, a chapter titled ‘Helping Pakistan’ traces how, on the economic side, the Kerry-Lugar Bill of the US tripled assistance to Pakistan, with a potential to provide a significant boost to key sectors including education, water, and energy. It would be even more useful if supplemented with an automatic democracy bonus, an idea Congress had been toying with earlier, suggests Riedel. “This would commit the US to adding another billion dollars a year in aid every year the president could certify that Pakistan was a democracy. This, in turn, would provide an incentive to keep the army out of politics.”
Even though the US aid to Pakistan is significant, especially when the donor country faces major economic problems itself, this is far from enough to turn the Pakistani economy around in the face of a fast-growing population and scarce resources, the author feels. For example, “Recovering from the floods of 2010 alone will take billions in aid.”
Interestingly, the book cites the view of economists that Washington could do much more for Pakistan by modifying its trade policy to allow more Pakistani-made textiles to be sold in the US. “Some 60 per cent of Pakistan’s exports today consist of textiles, but far too few get into the American market because of high tariffs. The Atlantic Council notes that typical tariffs on Pakistan textiles in the US are 11.4 per cent, which is nearly three times the average rate of 4 per cent.”
A related reference is to a recent report published by Pakistan experts at the Council on Foreign Relations, recommending that Obama and Congress aggressively pursue a free trade deal with Pakistan. “This, it concludes, would have the largest impact on job creation, especially among women, and would help revitalise economic growth.”
The book concludes by stating that the future of the global jihad will be decided in Pakistan more than anywhere else in the world. And that there is every reason for Pakistanis and Americans to transform what has long been a deadly embrace into a union of minds with a common purpose.
Informative material.
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