Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 05/2011

The Future of Pakistan

Stephanie Flamenbaum, Megan Neville, Constantino Xavier

March 2011

United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

Growing economic and political instability, rising support for extremism and increasing tensions in Pakistan’s relationship with the United States currently threaten the country’s prospects for a stable future. Domestic actors with the capacity to build consensus across Pakistan’s fractured society must address the widening divergence of opinion among Pakistanis regarding responsibilities of the state and citizenry.