Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy

"This bold book explains why it will be so difficult to persuade the Pakistani military to renounce political power and return to the barracks. It is a must read for anyone who cares about Pakistan or its future." Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars"Siddiqa demonstrates [how] economic impunity and political impunity are closely related."Nicole Ball, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, Washington DC"No one else has so comprehensively [explained] the army's involvement in Pakistan's economy, nor linked it so clearly with the army's growing and seemingly permanent role in Pakistan's politics." Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings"Complex, riveting, absorbing, Siddiqa has written a vitally important book which enhances our understanding of the army on the front line in the war on terror."Ahmed Rashid, Far Eastern Economic Review"An incisive look at the largely hidden economic empire run by and for the benefit of Pakistan's military. This courageous book will not please Pakistan's generals. But no Pakistani, civilian or military, can afford to ignore its sobering analysis." Robert M. Hathaway, Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsPakistan is a strategic ally of the US in the "war on terror". It is the third largest receiver of US aid in the world. Yet Pakistan is a state run by its army.Siddiqa shows how the power of the military has transformed Pakistani society, where the armed forces have become an independent class. The military is entrenched in the corporate sector. So Pakistan's companies and its main assets are in the hands of a tiny minority of senior army officials. Siddiqa examines this military economy and the consequences of merging the military and corporate sectors. Does democracy have a future? Will the generals ever withdraw to the barracks? Military Inc. analyses the internal and external dynamics of this gradual power-building and the impact that it is having on Pakistan's political and economic development.