This book has focused on the dialectic between state construction and the political process in Pakistan in the first decade of its independence. Using Dependency Paradigm as the evaluation tool, it examines the international political and economic factors, which in alliance with the domestic and regional factors shaped the structure of the Pakistani state according to the interests of the players of the neo-colonial world in the Cold War era. The first decade of Pakistan's history (1947-1958) produced developments of great significance for the construction of the post-colonial state that needs to be examined in the context of Cold War era. It was during this period that democratic institutions were destroyed and authoritarianism was consolidated, which generated underdevelopment, and Pakistan took the shape of a 'client' state of the United States. These developments concluded in the first direct military rule in 1958, and since then the military intervention in political domain has become a permanent feature of Pakistan's life at the cost of evolution of civil society and participatory institutions. An analytical study of the formative years of Pakistan in the context of 'dependency paradigm' may provide new insights for understanding the broader issues of military intervention in politics and the authoritarian nature of the state and its links with underdevelopment in the Third World, particularly in South Asia.
Readership: General Public, including faculty and students of politics, international relations, foreign policy and development studies.
Lubna Saif, Associate Professor, Allama Iqbal O pen University
Dr Lubna Saif is Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Pakistan Studies, Allama Iqbal Open University. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and has taught in various national and international universities and worked as consultants for many international organizations. She has edited two volumes of Pakistani Society and Culture and one volume of Ideological Foundations of Pakistan. Her articles are regularly published in academic journals. She has represented Pakistan in many international conferences and seminars read papers in various national and international conferences.
List of Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction 1.: Colonial Capitalism 2.: Constructing the Post-Colonial State 3.: Emergence of Institutional Imbalance-Manipulating Powers of International Connections 4.: Destruction of Democracy and Consolidation of an Authoritarian State 5.: Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment 6.: Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index
