Pakistan: Another View

Pakistan, what it will and won't do, its cooperation and confrontation with the U.S., are issues of importance for American foreign policy. Brazilian-born correspondent Pepe Escobar, who writes for the Asia Times, gives us an independent view of what Pakistan wants and fears, particularly with respect to Afghanistan.

I have no sense of whether Escobar is or isn't correct. With a base in Hong Kong he sees regional affairs from a different perspective than analysts based in Europe or North America. That alone makes his view interesting.

One issue Escobar emphasizes that I've not seen before is Pakistan's worry of confronting a united, bi-national group of angry Pashtuns. This resembles Turkey's fear of a united tri-national group of vengeful Kurds.

We see again the downstream fallout of colonial powers drawing lines on maps with no consideration for historic tribal boundaries. This has also been an issue in Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan, and many other former colonies.