Pakistan, the world’s second-largest Muslim nation, borders Afghanistan, Iran, India, and China and is a key player in Middle East and Asian relations due to its geography and complex history. RAND research has explored the forces shaping the development of Pakistan’s economic and political systems, its nuclear imperative, the role of local Islamic fundamentalist groups in global terrorism, and the effect of U.S. military policy and foreign aid to Pakistan on regional counterterrorism efforts.
Research conducted by: RAND Arroyo Center; RAND Project AIR FORCE; RAND National Security Research Division; Center for Asia Pacific Policy
Journal Articles (5)
This essay from a collection, which examines the security situation in Afghanistan through the largest public opionon survey ever conducted in Afghanistan, asks three questions. What are Afghan perceptions of the security environment? How do these perceptions vary across the country? How do Afghans feel about their security institutions?
This paper argues that many of the observed dissimilarities between Pakistan and Bangladesh stem, at least in part, from demographic differences, some of which can be attributed to the two countries' diverse human development policies.
The continuing paths of development pursued by Bangladesh and Pakistan merit monitoring for the lessons they offer regarding development and conflict in South Asia and in other nations of the Muslim world,
The president of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf has promised to deal with the ongoing criminal activity going in the nation. His pledged to do so is constrained by a deficient and largely ineffective law enforcement structure beset by corruption, a lack of cross-agency standardization and inadequate technical support and resources.
The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has become one of the main centres of extremist Islamic activity in South Asia. At the forefront of much of this violence is the *Army of the Pure (Lashkar-e-Tayyiba - LeT), which has emerged as the most lethal and brutal of all the jihadist groups currently fighting in J&K.
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