US-Pakistan Relations

US foreign policy-making from the end of the Cold War to after 2001 is crucial to understanding the years of strong US engagement with Pakistan that would follow 9/11. This book explains Pakistans strategic choices in the 1990s by examining the role of the United States in the shaping of Islamabads security goals. Drawing upon a diverse range of oral history interviews as well as available written sources, the book explains the American contribution to Pakistani security objectives during the presidency of Bill Clinton (1993-2001). The author investigates and explains the dynamics which drove Islamabads pursuit of nuclear weapons, its support for the Taliban and its approach towards the indigenous uprising in Indian Kashmir. She argues that Clintons foreign policy contributed to the hardening of Islamabads security perspectives, creating space for the Pakistani military establishment to pursue its regional security goals. The book also discusses the argument that US-Pakistan relations during this period were driven by a Cold War mindset, causing a fissure between US global and Pakistans regional security goals. The Pakistani military and civilian leadership utilized these divergent and convergent trends to protect Islamabads India-centric strategic interests. The book addresses a gap in the relevant literature and moves beyond the available mono-causal explanations often distorted by a mixture of intellectual obfuscation and political rhetoric. It adds a Pakistani perspective and is a valuable contribution to the study of US-Pakistan relations.