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Analysis: U.S. Nervously Eyes Pakistani Impasse

Council on Foreign Relations

September 13, 2007
Prepared by: Jayshree Bajoria

Every day that passes without a settlement to Pakistan’s political crisis raises concerns about escalating violence and instability. Few countries have as much at stake in the outcome as the United States, which counts President Pervez Musharraf as a chief ally in its declared “war on terror.” Musharraf’s latest steps to maintain stability and his plan to seek another five-year term as president have put Washington policymakers in a delicate spot (AP).

The government has detained (IHT) hundreds of opposition political figures and workers in the past few days. And its recent move to deny entry to exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in defiance of the Supreme Court has led to Pakistan slipping into what Economist.com calls “an undeclared state of emergency.” In the midst of the ferment, the U.S. State Department’s second-ranking official, Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, visited Islamabad to affirm the U.S.-Pakistan anti-terror alliance (VOA). He also stressed that the controversy surrounding Sharif’s return is an internal Pakistani matter, while making it clear the United States supports (AP) a power-sharing deal involving Musharraf and another exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

Consensus has been growing in Washington that a coalition between Musharraf and Bhutto’s Pakistan’s People Party (PPP), one of the most popular parties in the country, might be the best possible way for Pakistan to transition to democracy.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.