REPORTS
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February 2011
Reforming Pakistan's Police and Law Enforcement Infrastructure: Is It Too Flawed to Fix?
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
An effective police force is critical to countering insurgency. In Pakistan, an understaffed and underequipped police force is increasingly called on to manage rising insecurity and militant violence. This report evaluates the obstacles to upgrading the existing police system and recommends traditional and innovative reform options, including major restructuring of the total civilian law enforcement infrastructure, without which the police force cannot be effectively improved.
AP Photo
2010
Militancy in Pakistan's Borderlands: Implications for the Nation and for Afghan Policy
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
This paper provides a critical perspective on past Pakistani policy toward jihadist militant groups, the growth of their influence in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Kyber Pukhtunkhwa Province (KPP), and what steps need to be taken in order to reverse their momentum. Abbas argues that Pakistan's civilian and military leadership will have to transition from a short-term strategy of deal-making and army offensives to a long-term political solution that will erode the gains made by militant groups in these areas since 2002.
May 2009
Pakistan Can Defy the Odds: How to Rescue a Failing State
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Is Pakistan collapsing? How far are the Taliban from Islamabad? Can al-Qaeda grab the country's nuclear weapons? These are the types of questions raised every day by the American media, academia and policy circles. And these are critical issues, given the nature of the evolving crisis in Pakistan. The approximately two dozen suicide bombings in 2009 so far, 66 in 2008, and 61 in 2007, all of which have targeted armed forces personnel, police, politicians, and ordinary people not only in the country's turbulent northwest but also in its major urban centers, indicate the seriousness of the threat. A major ammunition factory area located close to some very sensitive nuclear installations in Wah (Punjab) was targeted by two suicide bombers in August 2008, an act that sent shudders across the country's security establishment...."
April 2009
Police & Law Enforcement Reform in Pakistan: Crucial for Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism Success
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"The police infrastructure is one of Pakistan's most poorly managed organizations. It is aptly described as ill-equipped, poorly trained, deeply politicized, and chronically corrupt. It has performed well in certain operations; overall, however, that is a rare phenomenon. Arguably, the primary reason for this state of affairs is the government's persistent failure to invest in law enforcement reform and modernization. It is ironic that despite frequent internal crises since its inception in 1947, ranging from ethnic confrontations and sectarian battles to a sharp rise in criminal activity and growing insurgencies, both political and military policymakers have never given this sector top priority. Hence, poor police performance in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency is not surprising. The fact that the police successfully challenged some militant religious groups in Punjab and tackled an insurgency-like situation in Karachi in the late 1990s shows that they do have the potential to deliver the desired results when political support is present and resources are provided...."
January 26, 2009
President Obama's Policy Options in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"There is an emerging consensus among foreign policy experts that the growing insurgency and militancy in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) poses the greatest security challenge not only to Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also to the United States. Some scholars even project that a major terrorist act with al-Qaeda footprints in the United States might result in an American strike and ground invasion of this area."
November 2008
Partnership for Progress
By Xenia Dormandy, Former Senior Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Belfer Center's Xenia Dormandy and Hassan Abbas participated in a working group on the state of Pakistan convened by the Center for American Progress. The resulting report proposes strategies for enhanced security, democratization, and economic growth.
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September 6, 2007
The Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq
By General (ret.) James L. Jones, USMC, Former Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project, General (ret.) John Abrams, Lt. General (ret.) Martin R. Berndt, General (ret.) Charles G. Boyd, Command Sergeant Major (ret.) Dwight J. Brown, Terrance Gainer, John J. Hamre, Colonel (ret.) Michael Heidingsfield, Admiral (ret.) Gregory G. Johnson, General (ret.) George Joulwan, Lt. General (ret.) James C. King, Duncan McCausland, Sergeant Major (ret.) Alford McMichael, Lt. General (ret.) Gary S. McKissock, Brig. General (ret.) Richard Potter, Maj. General (ret.) Arnold L. Punaro, Charles Ramsey, John F. Timoney, Lt. General (ret.) John A. Van Alstyne and General (ret.) Charles Wilhelm
The Independent Commission submitted this report to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, Appropriations, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations/Affairs on the readiness of the Iraqi Security Forces in September 2007.
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January 30, 2008
Afghanistan Study Group Report
By General (ret.) James L. Jones, USMC, Former Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project, Amb. Thomas R. Pickering, Amb. David M. Abshire, Dr. Keith Crane, Lisa Curtis, Amb. James Dobbins, Dr. Malik M. Hasan, Amb. Karl F. Inderfurth, Frederick Kempe, Amb. Dennis Kux, Amb. Gary Matthews, Robert Perito, Charles Robb, Dr. Barnett R. Rubin, J. Alexander Thier, James Townsend and Dr. Marvin G. Weinbaum
The Center for the Study of the Presidency issued this report on status of current U.S. and international efforts in Afghanistan and the need for an improved strategy to ensure a secure and prosperous Afghanistan for the future.
July 2008
Project on National Security Reform - Preliminary Findings
By Ashton B. Carter, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities, David M. Abshire, Norman R. Augustine, Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, Charles G. Boyd, Daniel W. Christman, General Wesley K. Clark, Former Senior Advisor, 2001-2009, Preventive Defense Project, Ruth A. David, Leon Fuerth, Newt Gingrich, James R. Locher III, James M. Loy, Jessica Tuchman Mathews, John McLaughlin, Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Carlos Pascual, Amb. Thomas R. Pickering, General Brent Scowcroft, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey H. Smith, Dr. James B. Steinberg and Ken Weinstein
The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) - a bipartisan, private-public partnership sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency - has released its preliminary findings on needed changes in the national security system (covering both international and homeland security). PNSR's goal is approval of a new system early in the next administration. It envisions three sets of reforms: new presidential directives or executive orders, a new national security act, and amendments to Senate and House rules.
July 2011
An Introduction to Pakistan's Military
By Francisco Aguilar, Former Belfer IGA Fellow 2009-2012, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Randy Bell, Former Belfer IGA Fellow 2008-2010, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Natalie Black, Sayce Falk, Former Belfer IGA Fellow 2009-2011, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Sasha Rogers, Former Belfer IGA Fellow 2009-2011 and Aki J. Peritz
The Pakistani military remains an opaque entity, both inside and outside of the country. Few publicly available reports exist for those seeking a basic understanding of its leaders, functions, or allegiances. An Introduction to Pakistan's Military is the first of two Belfer Center reports examining the Pakistani military. To assemble this report, the authors interviewed over two-dozen retired Pakistani military officers, principally in Islamabad and Karachi. The authors also conducted nearly forty additional interviews with Pakistani politicians, civil society actors, journalists, and military experts, as well as with US and European military, diplomatic, and intelligence officers and analysts.
