Nation Building in Pakistan

To understand the magnitude of the challenge Washington is creating for itself with Afghanistan and Pakistan, it's instructive to read Dan Twining:

Third and relatedly, America must sustain a long-term commitment to Pakistan and its region across the political-economic-military spectrum to change some of the intractable ground realities that lead Pakistani leaders to define their interests in ways inimical to those of the United States. Chris Brose and I have detailed the outlines of such an approach here. The goal of such a strategy would be to gradually reorient Pakistan's definition of national security away from its current manifestation -- supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and terrorism against India, for instance -- policies destructive to its neighbors, to us, and to itself. This would be a slow, systematic, and evolutionary -- not revolutionary -- approach to changing the strategic context of Pakistani decision-making and so nudging Pakistan in a direction more favorable to the interests of the United States -- and the welfare of the Pakistani people.

In other words, for the U.S. to succeed, we have to commit to a sustained, large-scale military presence in the region with an active involvement in Pakistan's domestic and external politics. Why do we think this will work? Just look at the reaction to the Kerry-Lugar bill - a well intentioned and, according to Twining, well conceived bill to provide aid to Pakistan nonetheless created a major row between the two countries. If Pakistan is going to get pissed off when we offer them $7.5 billion dollars, how are they going to feel when they hear American officials talking about how we're going to wade into their affairs and set about changing their national interests?

(AP Photos)