By James P. Farwell

Pentagon Press, New Delhi, 2012

Book Summary: The killing of Osama bin Laden spotlighted Pakistan's unpredictable political dynamics, which are often driven by conspiracy theory, paranoia, and a sense of betrayal. In Pakistan, the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto famously declared, there is "always the story behind the story." In The Pakistan Cauldron, James P. Farwell explains what makes Pakistani politics tick. Farwell has advised the Department of Defense on terrorism, sovereignty, and the political issues in the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. Here he reveals how key Pakistani political players have inconsistently employed the principles of strategic communication to advance their agendas and undercut their enemies. Pakistan is an enigma to many. Only by understanding the complex forces that shape Pakistani leaders can we uncover their shifting political agendas and how they affect America and the West. Farwell explains how and why former president Pervez Musharraf clamped down on nuclear scientist A. Q. Kahn and isolated him. He assesses Benazir Bhutto's unique legacy and analyzes how Musharraf handled the aftermath of her assassination. He explains Pakistan's current instability and demonstrates how the country's emotional reaction to bin Laden's death is best understood as the outcome of long-standing political dynamics. The Pakistan Cauldron is for anyone who needs to know why Pakistan continues to pose increasingly difficult challenges for the United States and the West.

 
About the Author

James P. Farewell is an expert in strategic communication who has advised the Department of Defense, U.S. Special Operation Command, and the U.S. Strategic Command on the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. He has written commentaries for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Middle East Institute, the National Interest and the IO Journal and the online news source for Defence IQ. A graduate of Tulane University and the University of Cambridge, England, he is also an attorney and a political consultant who has worked nationally and internationally at the presidential level. He is currently Senior Reserach Scholar in strategic studies in the Munk School of Global Affairs, Canada Centre for Global Economic Studies, University of Toronto.

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