The Double Game

After World War II amid a scramble for allies, the US chose Pakistan over India. Pakistan’s economy was more promising than India’s in the 1960s, but there’s been a reversal of fortunes since, suggests Lawrence Wright in an essay for The New Yorker. India emerged with a strong economy and democracy, and Pakistan is troubled, insecure and anti-American. Economic aid requiring matching grants was successful early on. But a sharp increase in US military aid with little accountability, along with Pakistani development of nuclear weapons and paranoia over India, contributed to a downward spiral in governance and the economy. Suicide bombings and links with the Taliban became incentives for adding to military coffers, and aid propped up personal quests for power, weakening the military rather than offering security for citizens. Wright concludes that reducing US military aid, increasing trade and persuading India to allow Kashmir to vote on its future could stabilize Pakistan and the region. – YaleGlobal