Military Agency, Politics and the State in Pakistan

Contents: 1. Conceptual Framework. 2. Between Legitimism and Structuralism. 3. Politics and the State: From Construction to Military Intervention. 4. Military Agency: From Agent to Principal. 5. Politics in 'New Pakistan'. 6. Actor and Agency : Explaining the Civilian Circularity. 7. Military Agency Revisited. Conclusion.

The book is a study of the political scenario in Pakistan that discusses the intervention of the military in Pakistan’s politics for securing its own interests. Through an in-depth study, it argues that it is the military agency in the country that is responsible for the coups and political interventions, and not the past or prevailing structure and culture of Pakistan. It observes that political power has been instrumental to facilitate the military’s economic interests. It presents a chronology of civil-military relations in the country. Taking recourse to various findings, it explains the causes and mode of military intervention, nature of the specific coups undertaken and military rule, and civil-military relations during different periods. It highlights the theoretical and empirical shortcomings in the existing studies on the construction of the state of Pakistan.