The Decline of Pakistan and the Ruling Oligarchies

The dominant political elites avoid answering the question about their role in the decline of Pakistan. Rather, they scapegoat the military, the mullahs, and generally the American role in Afghanistan for the rise of radical ideas and movements. They are the primary political actors and have dominated the political structure of the country, in alliance with the military and at times quite independent of it. Their massive systematic corruption, rather plunder, has invoked questions about their legitimacy, character, and their role in the drift of the country toward chaos.

Systematic Corruption and Disempowerment of the State

Pakistan’s ruling oligarchies have usually placed their personal political interests before the institutional and social priorities of the state. The political, military, and bureaucratic elites have disempowered the state for the benefit of empowering themselves that has produced a culture of graft in public institutions and development agencies from top to bottom. Continual disregard for quality governance and a lack of accountability of public servants and officeholders has created social and political alienation of the public, which increasingly questions democracy and liberal constitutional political arrangements.

Failure of Democracy and the Ruling Classes

A general impression at the popular level is that democracy has failed in Pakistan works in favor of the military and the mullahs. Unfortunately, the failures and the weaknesses of the political class have been affixed on the political order for which the ruling classes of Pakistan cannot escape responsibility. Their persistent failure to establish justice, equality, and rule of law has reduced the politics of state building to political networking and maneuvering of coalitions among the landed aristocracy and partnerships between them and the military. The failure to bring the feudal and military oligarchy under the limits of the law and constitution has stunted institutional growth of the state in Pakistan.

The Challenge of Radical Islam

This has been a regular pattern of Pakistani politics for decades, which is necessary to understand why the state in Pakistan has been vulnerable to the challenge of radical Islam as an alternative to the ruling classes. One can clearly read disappointment and frustration in the eyes of an average Pakistani, in some areas more than others, because the endowment of natural resources and local efforts to include citizens in development vary across regions. Islamists, most of them belonging to underprivileged sections themselves, have perhaps done a better job in understanding the despair of the populations at the local levels, and have used religion to mobilize support for militancy.

The Dilemma of Reconstructing Post-Conflict Areas

The Pakistani state has had a nominal presence in the vast rural periphery where, since colonial times, its functionaries negotiated some space and role with a powerful social class of tribal chiefs and feudal landlords. The state very rarely challenged the parallel informal authority structures that continue to exist beyond major cities and dominate the Western borderlands of the country. Even in instances that the state has tried to challenge these parallel structures, it has done so only under political compulsion and has soon retreated to its nominal role after the political compulsion has ended. Its assertion of power has been temporary, targeted against specific individuals and groups and has not become institutionalized.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to understand the role of the ruling oligarchies in the decline of Pakistan and their persistent failure to establish justice, equality, and rule of law. Their corruption and disregard for quality governance has disempowered the state and created social and political alienation of the public. The failure of democracy in Pakistan and the weakness of the political class have led to the rise of radical Islam as an alternative to the ruling classes. The state of Pakistan must rebuild its institutions, transfer security and development to the civilian sector, and assert