Conflict of Civil-Military Approach in Pakistan: Its Regional Implications

The question of civilian supremacy over managing state affairs has been revisiting Pakistan time and again; the case is the same these days. Assuming its strategic location at the crossroads of Middle East-Central South Asia, the country has a lot of potential not only to prosper and progress, but it can play a pivotal role in restoring peace and stability in the region.

Pakistan's civilian leadership has mostly supported the concept of peaceful coexistence with all neighboring countries, but the theory of animosity propagated by Pakistan's army with its neighbor, especially India, has kept the world's sixth most populous nation in a state of war ever since its inception. This chapter discuses the perpetual conflict between the civil-military approaches and how it is effecting regional peace.