Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan

Pakistan is still on the brink of becoming a failed state as a consequence of its decades-old practice of using proxy warriors in the region. Because of the weakening of the writ of the state neither governance nor the economy can function normally; in fact some say the two strong entities in today’s Pakistan are the Taliban and the army.Non-state actors and the extremist terror outfits they control pursue extortion kidnapping and murder to fund their activities and receive ideological financial and logistical support from the deep state. The army continues to use them in its India-centric agenda. Civilian institutions are intimidated and individuals who speak out against the terror outfits become targets of their retribution. Violence not law increasingly commands human conduct and the state’s willingness to enter into ‘peace talks’ with the Taliban is viewed as a form of surrender to extremism.Khaled Ahmed is Pakistan’s most respected columnist and his formidable expertise on the ideologies of extremism is internationally acknowledged. In Sleepwalking to Surrender he analyses the terrible toll terrorism has taken on Pakistan and appraises the portents for the future. About the Author Khaled Ahmed is the consulting editor for Newsweek Pakistan and former consulting editor for the Daily Times and the Friday Times. He has a thirty-year career in journalism and has written on the ideology and politics of Pakistan.