The United States and Pakistan, 1947-2000: Disenchanted Allies (The Adst-Dacor Diplomats and Diplomacy Series)

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Ambassador Dennis Kux, who had previously authored the study of India-US relations, India and the United States: Estranged Democracies, 1941-1991, has once again produced a masterly account; this time of the US-Pakistan relationship. Thorough in description, tracing events from the initial encounters between US and Pakistan since 1947, to President Clinton's visit to Islamabad in March 2000, Kux's narrative makes for an absorbing and gripping read. Heavily referenced, it has drawn from a variety of sources, including the US national archives, the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson presidential libraries, Nixon's papers and the Public Record Office in London. He also obtained documents by invoking the US Freedom of Information Act. Moreover, he was able to interview over 50 senior Pakistani officials who had played key roles in their country's dealings with Washington. The result is some rare insights into the making of history, much of it so far hidden from view.Kux has an added advantage since he served in the American embassy in Islamabad in two critical phases, from 1957 to 1959, and again from 1969 to 1971, and was eyewitness to many of the events that led to the blossoming of the relationship.Few relationships in the international arena have been as turbulent as Pakistan's with the United States. Washington's engagement with Islamabad has swung like a pendulum in the last fifty years or so. Ambassador Kux tried hard, with some success, to remove the misgivings of Pakistanis about the American lack of sincerity in bilateral relations as Washington always dumped the country once its interests were served. This once again is the topic of intense discussion in Pakistan today, even among the educated and the pro-Western class. To understand the dynamics of this ever changing relationship, especially in the emerging scenario, this timely book is a must read.

For anyone curious about Pakistan-US relations, this book by former Ambassador Dennis Kux tells the story. The author has a great eye & ear for political detail. In the end, it is a sad, unresolved piece of history that could come back and hit us in the face again and again. It is a convoluted conundrum, if these two words can logically exist together.

This is a level headed, well-constructed and well- researched diplomatic history of events in the US-Pakistan relationship up to 2000 by a well-informed participant in South Asian affairs. It is a reliable source of information, facts and insights about the events and decisions which have shaped this difficult but essential geo-political relationship. The fact that it only goes up to the year 2000 is a disadvantage in one way, since it does not include the difficult period in relations brought about by the attempted US invasion of Afghanistan. However, this is also an advantage since we can follow a methodical and objective narrative free of the alarmism, recriminations and justifications which cloud many post-9/11 accounts. This helps us understand how and why the bilateral relationship was already not fit for the key role the US demanded of it in 2001 and after.Facts and events are assembled in clear chronological sequence making it easy to follow the sharp fluctuations in the relationship. Mr. Kux makes a good effort at balancing US and Pakistani perspectives with material from actors from both camps, but, given his background of a career in the US State Department, it inevitably feels a little more sympathetic to the US cause. Nevertheless, it is much more balanced than several other accounts and I recommend it as a reliable starting point for researching and understanding how this key relationship developed up to the point just before Bush conscripted Pakistan into his Afghan invasion.