Pakistan’s diversity and resilience have rarely figured in the single-issue focus of recent literature on the country. This book presents an alternate paradigm and a deeper understanding of the country’s dynamics through an analysis of the Pakistan’s political, economic, social, foreign policy and governance challenges. It also discusses the complex interplay between domestic developments and external factors including great power interests that are so central to the Pakistan story and explain the vicissitudes in its fortunes. ‘An excellent book, one that brings out some very important points about the surprising stability of the country beneath the alarmism of the daily headlines, and forms a useful antidote to the general perception about Pakistan in the West.’ Professor Anatol Lieven, King’s College, London ‘This timely study looks beyond the headlines of terrorism and natural disaster that dominate Western perceptions of Pakistan. The contributors argue that contemporary security challenges and longer-term demographic pressures and energy shortages can be overcome if Pakistan possesses the political will to undergo wide-ranging institutional, educational and structural economic reform.’ Professor Ian Talbot, author, Pakistan: A Modern History