Pakistan After Musharraf: Praetorianism and Terrorism

Issue Date October 2008
Volume 19
Issue 4
Page Numbers 16-25
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An uneasy relationship between military and civilian power hangs like a cloud over the future of democratic reform in Pakistan. Praetorianism has been a deeply-ingrained feature in Pakistani politics since the country’s birth, making depoliticization of the military a nettlesome task for any civilian government, particularly given that the military’s “prerogatives” comprise the defense sector, internal security, legal system, and even foreign relations and nuclear weapons. With the ever-present threat of terrorism and the public insecurity and unrest terrorist acts provoke, authoritarian backsliding remains a sobering possibility.