Strategic Forum. Number 247, October 2009. Radicalization by Choice: ISI and the Pakistani Army

摘要

The Pakistani army and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate remain essential for the security and stability of Pakistan. Both organizations have deliberately embraced Islamic radicalism as a means to address the conventional military gap between Pakistan and India. Although there are signs of a shift in Pakistan's short-term strategic priorities and recognition that the challenge of homegrown Taliban is not just a U.S. problem, India will remain the focal point of Pakistan's long-term national security. Progress toward reordering Pakistan's strategic priorities and effecting a fundamental change in its strategic culture is bound to be slow and difficult. Furthermore, it cannot be forced by the United States. The history of relations between Pakistan and the United States is complicated and ambiguous, largely due to Pakistani perceptions of past U.S. abandonment. Any new U.S. strategy for Pakistan has to be considered against realistic expectations, which in turn have to take due account of the longstanding, fundamental nature of the factors that have shaped Pakistani strategic priorities and culture.