Country Profile: Pakistan
Executive Summary
Domestic insurgents, many of whom are located in the tribal areas adjacent to the border with Afghanistan, have proven formidable to control for Pakistani government and military leaders. Anemic levels of foreign investment and rampant internal political disputes that have lasted decades have left Pakistan exposed to slow growth and underdevelopment. Pakistan must address long standing issues related to government revenues and energy production in order to spur the amount of economic growth that will be necessary to employ its growing and rapidly urbanizing population. Other long term challenges include expanding investment in education and healthcare, adapting to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, and reducing dependence on foreign donors. Brief History
Present-day Pakistan was once a part of the Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest civilizations in human history. During the second millennium B.C., remnants of this culture fused with the migrating Indo-Aryan peoples. In the centuries that followed, the area experienced consecutive invasions from the Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Arabs (who brought Islam), Afghans, and Turks. By the 18th century, the region fell into the hands of the British after over two hundred years of rule by the thriving Mughal Empire. The Muslim state of Pakistan was then separated from British India in 1947, as well as divided into East and West sections. Disputes over the Kashmir territory, which lays on the border of India and Pakistan, ignited two wars in 1947-48 and 1965. A third war between these countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Political Structure
Economic Structure
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Social Structure
Religion:
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Ethnicity:
Gender:
Urbanization:
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Operating Organizations
- Political Groups: The most important political force is the military, followed by ulema (clergy), landowners, industrialists, and small merchants.
- Terrorist Groups: al-Mansoorain, al-Qa’ida, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Sipah-e-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)
Allies and Enemies
- Regional Allies: China
- Regional Enemies: India
- Global Allies: Saudi Arabia, Turkey
- Global Enemies: Israel, United States
Country Trajectory
Sectarian violence in Pakistan is rampant, and is exacerbated by the presence of numerous domestic and multinational terror organizations in the state. There are several instances of such groups that are specific to certain regions of Pakistan. Massacres of Shia and the targeted killings of Shia religious leaders are linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group with confirmed links to al-Qa’ida. LeJ is determined to turn Pakistan into a completely Sunni state. Meanwhile, in the Balochistan province, the Baloch Liberation Army is a persistent threat to order. Pakistani security forces in Balochistan are antagonized by both Balochi separatists and remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in this area. Simultaneous attacks from both international and internal sources make attempts to suppress these groups tenuous. Militant groups fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan are suspected to have found a safe haven in the tribal region of Pakistan. As the area remains mostly ungoverned, it will continue to see covert actions by the United States eliminate the targets that Pakistani officials cannot.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan is rampant, and is exacerbated by the presence of numerous domestic and multinational terror organizations in the state. There are several instances of such groups that are specific to certain regions of Pakistan. Massacres of Shia and the targeted killings of Shia religious leaders are linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group with confirmed links to al-Qa’ida. LeJ is determined to turn Pakistan into a completely Sunni state. Meanwhile, in the Balochistan province, the Baloch Liberation Army is a persistent threat to order. Pakistani security forces in Balochistan are antagonized by both Balochi separatists and remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in this area. Simultaneous attacks from both international and internal sources make attempts to suppress these groups tenuous. Militant groups fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan are suspected to have found a safe haven in the tribal region of Pakistan. As the area remains mostly ungoverned, it will continue to see covert actions by the United States eliminate the targets that Pakistani officials cannot.
Current Events
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/12/03/november-2012-update-us-covert-actions-in-pakistan-yemen-and-somalia/
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/pakistan-drone-strike/index.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/us-pakistan-explosions-idUSBRE90911P20130110
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/06/pakistan-election-rally-bomb-blast
- December 3rd, 2012: Between 2004 and November 2012, over 350 drone strikes have resulted in the deaths of roughly 3,000 hostile targets, but also those of 176 children.
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/12/03/november-2012-update-us-covert-actions-in-pakistan-yemen-and-somalia/
- January 6th, 2013: A suspected U.S. drone strike killed 17 militants and wounded three others. The strike occurred in Babar Ziarat, which borders the Pakistani provinces of North and South Waziristan, near the Afghan border.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/pakistan-drone-strike/index.html
- January 10th, 2013: A string of bombings killed 101 and injured 200 more in Pakistan. Most casualties were caused by sectarian attacks in the city of Quetta.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/us-pakistan-explosions-idUSBRE90911P20130110
- May 7th, 2013: In the north-west Kurram tribal region, at least 25 people were killed and seventy wounded after an explosion at a campaign rally of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Islamist party. The blast came from a suicide bomber of the Pakistani Taliban.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/06/pakistan-election-rally-bomb-blast
Sources
- http://web.archive.org/web/20071027120745/http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/country/?CountryID=35
- http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/12/03/november-2012-update-us-covert-actions-in-pakistan-yemen-and-somalia/
- http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/pakistan-drone-strike/index.html
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/us-pakistan-explosions-idUSBRE90911P20130110
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/06/pakistan-election-rally-bomb-blast
- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html
- http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=65
- http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3961