Book Launch: "The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World" by T. V. Paul
« The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World » by Prof. T.V. Paul
Book Launch and Panel Discussion
Thursday, 30 January 2014
McGill Bookstore, 3420 McTavish St., Montreal, QC H3A 3L1, 3rd Floor
5:30-7:00 pm
Co-sponsored by:
Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID-McGill University)
Canadian International Council (CIC -Montreal Chapter)
Center for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS- (McGill/UdM)
Panel Participants:
Philip Oxhorn (ISID)-Moderator
John A. Hall (McGill Sociology)
Norrin Ripsman (Concordia University)
Kyle Matthews (CIC)
Vincent Pouliot (CIPSS)
Matthew Lange (McGill Sociology)
T.V. Paul (McGill Political Science)
The panel presentations will be followed by cocktails and snacks as well as signing of the book by the author.
In 2013 Pakistan ranked 133rd out of 148 countries in global competitiveness. Currently, Taliban forces occupy nearly 30% of the country, and it is perpetually in danger of becoming a failed state—with over a hundred nuclear weapons that could easily fall into terrorists’ hands. In recent years, many countries across the developing world have experienced impressive economic growth and have evolved into at least partially democratic states with militaries under civilian control. Yet Pakistan, a heavily militarized nation, has been a conspicuous failure. Its economy is in shambles, propped up by international aid, and its political system is notoriously corrupt and unresponsive, although a civilian government has come to power.
In this acclaimed book T.V. Paul shows that excessive war-making efforts have drained Pakistan’s limited economic resources without making the country safer or more stable. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of Pakistan’s insecurity predicament drawing from the literatures in history, sociology, religious studies, and international relations. It is the first book to apply the “war-making and state-making” literature to explain Pakistan’s weak state syndrome. It also compares Pakistan with other national security states, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea and their different trajectories.
The book is published by Oxford University Press, New York, January 2014.
A cocktail reception will follow.
