The Problem of Pakistan: Stop-and-start attention to Pakistan by the U.S. may have done more harm than good

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace

Author(s): Cecile Shea

Research Area: Government

Keywords: Al-Qaeda; Pakistan

Type: Brief

Coverage: Pakistan

Abstract:

If any nation needs highly trained, superbly equipped police, it is Pakistan. Almost all the world’s arrests of important Al-Qaeda leaders have taken place there. There is one U.S.-funded police training school in Pakistan, and it is the only one of its caliber in Pakistan, a country of 168 million people. During the past forty years, the U.S. engagement with Pakistan has been sporadic and often focused on short-term goals, ultimately failing to help the country develop long-term capacities in key areas.