BOOK REVIEW

JOINT EFFORT BY:

Momna Sunny
Ayesha Saqib
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Anatol Lieven, the author, is indeed an expert on Pakistan. He is a well-known
British journalist and author who travels extensively and seeks out the minutest
information about the project at hand. He is Professor of International Relations and
Terrorism Studies at Kings College, London. Anatol Lieven is also a senior follower of
the New American Foundation. He conducted a comprehensive survey in Pakistan, and
based on hundreds of interviews with people from all walks of life, from soldiers to
rickshaw drivers, he concluded that extremism is much weaker in Pakistan than we
believe. He still knows a lot about the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Lieven is a
wonderful writer and has deep understanding about the people of Pakistan, their
traditions and value system. He critically examined the Pakistan’s present position along
with the evolution of history, foresee of future of Pakistan and its standing in the world
politics. In this book, the author's critical method explains the study of Pakistan's internal
and external problems.

ABOUT THE BOOK

About the book ''Pakistan A Hard Country’’, it has 566 pages and is published in 2012.
For almost everyone who has to live in, deal with, or write about Pakistan, it is a source
of trouble. Anatol Lieven’s subtitle, A Hard Country, sounds harsh, but its adjective is
much gentler than many others. Many, if not all, foreign commentaries on the world
imply that it’s actually a hopeless country, an impossible one to understand, predict or
manage, an entity whose creation was tragically a bad idea, and perhaps it is the biggest
source of global instability. The central theme of the books is constructed on the view
that the state is “divided, disorganized, economically backward, corrupt, violent, unjust,
often savagely oppressive towards the poor and women, and home to extremely
dangerous forms of extremism and terrorism.” Lieven's book is divided into four sections
which further have twelve chapters and these four sections addresses four different
aspects of state. The state's historical foundations, as well as its cultural, demographical,
and geographical characteristics, are covered in the first section and is titles as 'Land
'People and History’

In Chapter 1, The author introduces us with general and demographic aspects of

Pakistan by giving meaningful insight into characteristics of people and land of various
parts of the county. He emphasizes the fertility of the Punjab soil and Sindh, as well as
the mineral and natural resources that lies under the soil of Baluchistan and Sindh. All of
this can be put to good use for the country's future growth. He laments that it is an irony
of fate that the country which has huge natural resources and capability to help others,
runs to international agencies like World Bank, IMF, and rich countries with a begging
bowl in his hand.

In Chapter 2, impressive and unprecedented details about the subcontinent's Muslims

fighting for independence are provided. He admires Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah's
vanguard of the freedom struggle, and he correctly emphasises the supreme sacrifice
rendered by Indian Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives and
property, and countless of our daughters have been harmed by beasts disguised as
humans.

Part II meticulously dwells upon the subjects of justice, religion, the military and politics.
In this part, chapter 3 deals with justice system in Pakistan. The author marks mention
of many difficulties and humiliation faced by the poor masses at district and lower
growth levels. In this sense, corruption is a significant factor. The past of the higher
judiciary is also with many flaws. The Supreme Court has always extended legal
coverage to the military's abrogation of the constitution and subsequent amendments. Its
success has taken a turn for the better recently. The political elite and the rich continue to
take advantage of the judiciary's flaws. In the 1990s, supporters of former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif's PML (N) ransacked the Supreme Court, which is shameful by every
measure.

The role of faith in the lives of Pakistanis is discussed in Chapter 4. They show a strong
adherence to Islam, according to the author. Despite this, they gave unflinching and
strong support to Mr. Jinnah (Founding father) who as a British educated and enlightened
barrister. Mr. Bhutto was another well-known leader with similar academic credentials to
the former. Religious parties have never performed well in elections. The number of
fanatic-Taliban elements is very small, and they do not have widespread support.

Chapter 5 pertains to the military, to which, Lieven considers like a big family. He
appreciates this institution's technical integrity, professionalism, patriotism, and internal
harmony. He specifically distinguishes the Pakistan Army from the armed forces of the
Middle East and Africa, where coups were staged by groups of junior officers. He
accurately explains the mental and psychological superiority of young officers, who have
an advantage over civilian counterparts due to their experience, discipline, and
organisational missionary zeal. Simultaneously, the army's insolvency in civilian affairs
is not accepted in all circumstances. The author has portrayed the cantonments of army.
He termed them the paradise. They are clean, neat, and well-marked. The buildings of the
Cantonment are equally impressive.

Chapter 6 dwells upon politics. In Pakistan, Politics in generally considered the domain
of elite. Kinship plays a significant role in this sector. The country's political class is
considered to be selfish, corrupt, and low in character. Most party leaders' top priority is
to create family hegemony. They put the country's interests on the back burner in favour
of their own, which has been a major contributor to Pakistan's underdevelopment.
Political parties such as the PPP and PML (N) are loose coalitions of local interests; the
MQM, on the other hand, is primarily based in Karachi and has a genuine grassroots
party apparatus.

Part III contains chapter 7 to 10. Each chapter is assigned to each province Punjab,
Sindh, Baluchistan and the Pathans its political parties and its army. In this part the
author highlights the major issues of provinces of Pakistan for example lack of education,
electricity shortage, water shortage. The conflicts between provinces, tribes and different
Islamic school of thoughts that is major issue that can destroy Pakistan and can divide
Pakistan in small pieces. The strong and weak points, culture, history, economic
potential, religious views, and political inclinations of people that lives in provinces of
Pakistan all have been describe in great detail in their respective chapters. The authors
describe each province and major cities geographically, economically and describe
developments that made in big cities. The writers' attention to the smallest details is
praise able. He carefully draws our attention to the sensitivity and issues of smaller
regions, which are essential and required for our homeland's national stability and
dignity. This part of book is quite interesting because this part has the history, culture and
specialty of each province. This part gives knowledge about our provinces in detail issues
of each province and causes of issues which should not be ignored by government they
must be resolved for making our country prosper. In this part Lieven mention the
Pakistan is not a united different people who live in different areas have different agenda.
Lieven mention the dominance of big provinces and cities over other. Lieven highlight
the issues of women in Pakistan that in most areas in Pakistani women have lack of
opportunities and education facilities.

In part IV, The author delves deeply into the Taliban factor. The debate concludes with
an estimate of the Taleban's role in politics and an estimation of the state's Taleban-
defeating strategies. Part IV contains two chapters (chapter 11 to 12). Chapter 11 is
about the Pakistani Taliban, who he thinks are less in number and mostly from the Punjab
and KPK provinces in Pakistan. He does not believe they have the confidence of the
general public. People are becoming increasingly convinced of their evil and dangerous
mission. Most of them now believe they are getting funding from India, making them
anti-state.

In part IV, Chapter 12 the author talked about the main issue of Pakistan which destroy
Pakistan. The author talked about "Defeating the Taliban," the author not only describes
the Taliban's traits, but also suggests ways to beat them. The author believes that
Pakistan's most recent approaches to dealing with the issue are yielding positive results.
To counter the Taliban's campaign, they must take a multifaceted approach. The key to
success in this regard is economic empowerment of citizens, socio-political growth, a
sustainable and systematic foreign policy, and a strong military. This plan is already
paying off, and it's a good idea to keep it up.

CONCLUSION
Overall, the book is a fantastic work about Pakistan. It is a first-rate combination of
history, reporting, and research, and it is recommended for political science, history, and
international relations students. It's written in a simple, lucid and understandable style
that makes for an engaging and educational read. The book provides details about the
issues of Pakistan and causes of issues. The book provides knowledge about economy,
culture, history, politics, and relationship with other countries. The book provides detail
history and solutions about terrorism. The book gives complete detail about Pakistan
climate and disasters that Pakistan faces. In short, the twelve chapters of this book, which
are based on the aforementioned descriptions, are well-researched and informative, as
Lieven heavily relies on empirical sources in his work by conducting interviews with a
wide range of people, including politicians, philosophers, soldiers, intelligence officers,
bureaucrats, peasants, religious figures, and the general public.

CRITICISM
The first criticism groundswell movements are continually undercut by conflicting
loyalties in Pakistani society, which is primarily focused on kinship relations. This makes
progressive religious, fiscal, and social reforms virtually impossible. A Hard Country's
structure appears to represent the instability of the country it aims to depict. Lieven's
academic and journalistic credentials represent more than two decades of research
focused on extensive travel to gather scientific data. As a result, the position of
centrifugal and centripetal forces in Pakistan was assessed using balancing and
persuasive arguments. It's difficult to tell if the book incorporates some new concepts
while eliminating the old stereotypes about Pakistan's values. The topics of the chapters
range from institutional issues (religion, justice, and the military) to a collection of
chapters dedicated to each province. Finally, the discussion concludes with a calculation
of the Taleban's political position and an evaluation of the state's Taleban-defeating
strategies.