Two major news items caught my attention this week. It wasn't; like these were the only ones :) These were
a. More Ships hijacked by Somali pirates
b. Taliban getting awfully close to Islamabad, Pakistan.
In a way both these developments are remarkably similar.
Piracy is in essence a law and order issue, and in Somalia there is virtually no authority to carry out the kind of policing that could effectively disrupt pirate operations. What government there is in Somalia has bigger problems. Somalia has spent almost 20 years in a state of civil war, and shifting alliances, international interventions and a steady supply of unemployed young men and cheap guns have acted against any tendencies towards stabilization.
In Pakistan deep structural problems have created fertile ground for the Talibanization of Pakistan. I recommend reading The Idea of Pakistan by Stephen P. Cohen.
I am fortunate to have friends from Pakistan. Many a times we feel “PAKISTAN” the country is a problem. The problems are pretty basic: poverty, the lack of education, the seemingly imperatebilty OF exclusiveness.
The politics of extremism as represented by the Taliban, the economic meltdown and demographic pressure all point to a major implosion in Pakistan. Are we ready for the fallout?
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