Political Economy of Terrorism and War

1. Political Economy of Terrorism and War

2. Start from the present • Taliban Attacks in Pakistan (NY Times) • Class Dismissed (NY Times)

3. Main questions Where did this Taliban come from? What was the role of domestic politics? Religious ideology, education, poverty? Role of imperialism and occupations?

4. From Eqbal Ahmad “In 1985, President Ronald Reagan received a group of bearded men. These bearded men I was writing about in those days in The New Yorker, actually did. They were very ferocious-looking bearded men with turbans looking like they came from another century. President Reagan received them in the White House. After receiving them he spoke to the press. He pointed towards them, I’m sure some of you will recall that moment, and said, “These are the moral equivalent of America’s founding fathers”. These were the Afghan Mujahiddin. They were at the time, guns in hand, battling the Evil Empire. They were the moral equivalent of our founding fathers!”

6. The Map: Territory & Community 6

7. Kashmir: What is at issue? Self-determination and independence Secularism versus religion as a basis for states Territory Dislocation and loss of lives Identity 7

8. Some basics… • Independence on August 14, 1947 • East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan • 4 provinces: Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, NWFP • 3 territories: Azad Kashmir, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Gilgit-Baltistan • National language is Urdu - but most people speak Punjabi (60-70%)

9. Pakistan (3) Tensions with India, Kashmir situation etc., also created insecurity This led in turn to a strengthening of the military Resource scarcity Assassination of first PM Liaqaut Ali Khan By 1951, the US saw this as an opportunity to extend Cold War politics 9

10. Sources of Power: Pakistan Military Bureaucracy Landowning Classes Prime Minister and Party in government President Religion & Religious Leaders External relations (in particular, with the US) 10

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13. Constitution • 3 constitutions since independence (1956, 1962, 1973) each reiterating the importance of Islam • The last iteration (1973) of the constitution came after the cessation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971

14. Role of Religion in the State • The various degrees of state secularity/religiousity of different governments demonstrates the difficulties, at the state level, to articulate the role of Islam in the state • Zia-ul-Haq’s government (1973-1988) came closest to implementing Shariah law through its ‘Islamization programs’, but no federal government has fully implemented Shariah Law • Shariah Law has existed, however, in certain territories

15. Women in Pakistan • Zia-ul-Haq’s ‘Islamization’ policies had detrimental effects for women especially through a set of law called the Hudood Ordinances • A vocal and vociferous women’s movement emerged during Zia’s rule • Women’s movement in Pakistan struggling to articulate a balance between Islam and secularism

16. Political Economy of Defence • Ayesha Jalal (1995) has argued that Pakistan’s overdeveloped military has had determinative effects on Pakistan’s political economy • She argues that there is a key difference between the political economies of India and Pakistan: • India has a ‘political economy of development’ • Pakistan has a ‘political economy of defence’

17. Political Economy of Defence • First decade after independence, Pakistani military and civil administration took up 3/4 of the federal budget • Military governments • Ayub Khan (1958) • Zia-ul Haq (1977) • Pervez Musharraf (1999)

18. Political Economy of Defence • Class aspect of military is tied to the extent to which the military has been able to infiltrate key economic structures/entities • Military presence can be felt in: housing developments, agriculture, transportation, oil/gas, defence production, hospitals, schools • Greater upward mobility for military personnel and their families because of access to better social services (schools, hospitals)

19. Political Economy of Defence • “Dominance of non-elected institutions in Pakistan…points to a disjunction between state power and class power” (Jalal, 144) • Support of landowning families alongside failure to bring about effective land reforms • Mutually constitutive relationship between dominant social classes and military i.e. members of military entereing dominant social classes, and dominant social classes being protected by military

20. Political Economy of Defence • Why military overdevelopment? • Pakistan: On a Razor’s Edge

21. Opposition to military • The military has been met with opposition from other political parties • But many of the same parties have often worked in tandem with the military to secure their power • The times where political parties have emerged in opposition to the military is connected to the degree of economic marginalization in the country

22. Opposition to military • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Pakistan People’s Party) took power in 1971 in the context of unrest in rural areas, including rural Punjab • “Roti, kapra, aur makaan” - bread, clothes, and shelter • (1971-1977) Glimmer of democracy • Bhutto legacy (dynasty) is very strong but is also often romanticized (ex. treatment mohajirs) • Post-Zia - “constitutional coups”

23. Strategic Importance of Pakistan in International Relations • Pakistan’s neighbours - Afghanistan, Iran, India, China • Cold War • War on Terror • Not separate from overdevelopment of military

24. Human Development in Pakistan http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK.html Does this mean terrorism? What does your book say?

25. Schaeffer: (1) “First, 9/11 joined together separate problems across the Middle East: conflicts related to partition in India and Palestine and revolutions and wars in the Gulf and Afghanistan.

26. Schaeffer (2) Before 9/11, these conflicts were treated as distinct problems. Today, they are seen as inextricably linked”.

27. Schaeffer (3) “in regional terms, 9/11 prompted U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bush administration’s “war on terror” also led to the intensificationof already existing conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and between Indians, Pakistanis, and Muslim insurgents in the Kashmir.

28. Schaeffer (4) Third, in economic terms, 9/11 and the wars that followed contributed to recession and, more recently, a new housing crisis.

29. How have these wars been fought? “outsourcing war”Estimates of the numbers of PMC personnel in Afghanistan vary from 130,000 to 
160,000 the second-largest deployment after Iraq (3), which it is set to overtake in the near future. The 30,000 extra US troops bound for Afghanistan could be accompanied by up to 56,000 additional contractor personnel. PMC contractors will then account for nearly two-thirds of all the Pentagon’s personnel in Afghanistan, the highest ratio in any conflict 
in the history of the US” Read more: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/02/09/afghanistans-outsourced-war.html#ixzz1HKHVN7AI “

30. PMFs and PMCs http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13993 “PMFs are businesses that provide governments with professional services intricately linked to warfare; they represent, in other words, the corporate evolution of the age-old profession of mercenaries. Unlike the individual dogs of war of the past, however, PMFs are corporate bodies that offer a wide range of services, from tactical combat operations and strategic planning to logistical support and technical assistance”.

31. Just in time and lean production of wars - Downsizing the military but permanent war agenda - Possibility of war profiteering - deregulation - unemployment

32. What does it mean for 'development' ? Recall how we defined ‘development’ - modernization Capability - social power