Pakistan And Afghanistan Look
On The Spectacular Landslide Re-Election Of Barack Obama For A Second Term As US
President With Some Trepidation. Pakistan Has Just Come Out Of A Nine-Month
Breakdown Of All Talks With The US, The Worst State The Two Countries
Relationship Has Been In For 60 Years. Pakistan Thinks The US Under Mr Obama Has
No Strategy, While The US Thinks Pakistan Lies As It Continues To Harbor
Extremists. Mr Obama Has Frequently Called Pakistan His Biggest Headache But He
Has Been Unable To Come Up With A Satisfying Painkiller
Mr Obama Had Allowed The US
Military To Run His Policies Towards Pakistan And Afghanistan – Starting With
The Surge In Afghanistan In 2009 And Then Planning For The US Withdrawal In
2014. More Important Political Strategies Such As Talking To The Taliban, Making
Sure Free And Fair Elections Are Held In Afghanistan And Pakistan And Trying To
Revive Relations With Islamabad Have Been Run By A Weak State Department,
Stymied By The Lack Of Presidential Support.
Despite The Country’s Internal
Chaos, A Clear US Strategy To Talk To The Afghan Taliban Leaders Based In
Pakistan Would Be Attractive To The Warring Military, Judicial And Political
Factions. That Is Especially So For The Military, Which Is Now Feeling The Heat
From The Growing Threat Posed By The Pakistani Taliban. A US Dialogue To Achieve
A Cease Fire In Afghanistan That Includes Pakistani Participation May Act As A
Glue To Help Bind The Bickering Pakistani Establishment.
The New Obama Administration
Needs To Re-Engage With Pakistan On All Fronts But Particularly To Help It Deal
With The Growing Internal Jihadist Threat And That Includes Helping Pakistan
Devise A Comprehensive Policy To Disarm The Anti-Indian Extremist Groups That
Inhabit The Important Province Of Punjab. On Its Own And Without Financial Help
Pakistan Is Presently Incapable Of Devising Any Such Strategy. And If Left Out
Of Any Peace Equation In Afghanistan, Its Intelligence Agencies Will Be Tempted
To Act As Spoilers Rather Than Healers.
At The Beginning Of His First Administration Mr Obama Took Several Positive
Steps To Try And Ease Tensions Between The US And The Broader Muslim World But
There Was No Follow Through By The White House Or The State Department. Events
Such As The Arab Spring, The Civil War In Syria And The Worsening Relations With
Iran Overwhelmed Those Early Initiatives. There Was No Effort To Deal With The
Israeli-Palestinian Quagmire.
What Is Needed Is A More Consistent, More Deeply Engaged And Well Led
Political-Diplomatic Effort By The US In The Broader Muslim World In Which The
Newly Elected President Obama Is More Involved In Than What He Has Been In The
Past Four Years.