My paper is primarily focused on the nationalism within Pakistan and how it has led to the instability of its border with Afghanistan and the relative rigidity of its border with India. The research that I have conducted thus far has mostly been about the partition between India and Pakistan and how the division of the once united British colony into separate states formed around two religions has created tensions.
After the recent developments in the relationship between Afghanistan and India, I may want to do more research into how their relationship has affected Pakistan, or how it could in the future. I might look into how Pakistan’s relationship and its border have played into the developing alliance between its neighbors and if the sense of nationalism within Pakistan has contributed to these conditions in any way. Initially I was planning on examining how Afghanistan and India have contributed to Pakistan’s security concerns but I’ve realized that it may be advantageous to look at the reversal as well.
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteAs we've discussed, I think this is a great topic. Its going to be a very challenging one, in part because there is so much research out there about Pakistan, so you have to dig through a lot of material that might be slightly related to what you're looking for but isn't quite right.
I've done a bit of a quick search, and an interesting chapter came up in an edited volume called Right-sizing the State. The chapter is by Vali Nasr and directly addresses the issue of borders in Pakistan, so it may prove to be especially useful. The citation is posted below:
Callaghy, Thomas M., Ian Lustick, and Brendan O'Leary. 2001. Right-sizing the state: the politics of moving borders. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press.
Off the top of my head- it seems like exploring the roles that Pakistan's different ethnic groups have to play in nationalism seems like it could be useful.
ReplyDeleteThere has been a large amount of conflict within Pakistan among Punjabis, Afghanis (Pushtun), Kashmiris, Sindhis, and Balochis. Examining how this affects the Pakistani version of nationalism may be useful.
I think you should also look at Afghanistan after the end of the Cold war and collapse of the Soviet Union because It was during this time that Afghanistan was no longer a buffer state in the struggle between Iran and Pakistan, who wanted to trade and access Central Asia’s mineral wealth
ReplyDeleteand markets. I always felt it was during this time that Afghanistan and Pakistan started to face instability in their relationship, which led to further rifts and the current border problems.
I know it doesn't have alot to do with Pakistan nationalism, but its an idea if you want to look more into it.
I agree that looking at the state of the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan after the Cold War would be useful, especially considering Pakistan's funding of the mujahideen. By funding the rebels, Pakistan did ultimately contribute to the violence within Afghanistan and may have consequently fed the more localized and tribal violence along the border.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting how Pakistan has struggled to incorporate all of the different ethnic groups into one cohesive unit while India has seemingly had much more success. I have to do more research about how the different groups have played a role as well, and not just focus on religion, which may be more useful with regards to Indian than with Afghanistan.