Editor’s Note On Special Pakistan Issue

Pakistan is a complex country made up of some 160 million people (95 percent of whom are Muslims) with various ethnic groups vying for power and recognition. Progressive 20th century institutions and Western-educated leaders are constantly challenged by an entrenched feudal establishment and a religious hierarchy espousing traditional Islamic world-views. In approaching the problems of terrorism in Pakistan, the four articles here depict the ups and downs of the country’s experience ever since it was created out of British India in 1947. The articles on Karachi and Peshawar reflect the microcosms of this experience. The article on al-Qaeda in Pakistan reveals what the country inherited for supporting the jihad in Afghanistan on behalf of the United States and Saudi Arabia, while the article on Iran and Pakistan illustrates the common heritage of this sensitive region and how the U.S. and Soviet rivalry in Afghanistan affected both nations.