This handbook examines Pakistan's 70-year history from a number of different perspectives.When Pakistan was born, it did not have a capital, a functioning government or a centralbank. The country lacked a skilled workforce. While the state was in the process of beingestablished, eight million Muslim refugees arrived from India, who had to be absorbed into apopulation of 24 million people. However, within 15 years, Pakistan was the fastest growingand transforming economy in the developing world, although the political evolution of thecountry during this period was not equally successful. Pakistan has vast agricultural andhuman resources, and its location promises trade, investment and other opportunities. Chapters in the volume, written by experts in the field, examine government and politics, economics,foreign policy and environmental issues, as well as social aspects of Pakistan's development,including the media, technology, gender and education.

1 An overview Shahid Javed Burki; PART I Politics, theory and practice 2 The Pakistan story Shahid Javed Burki; 3 Unintended consequences: The long shadow of Partition on Pakistan and India Subrata K. Mitra; 4 Evolution of politics Shirin Tahir-Kheli; 5 Islam, society and politics in Pakistan Riaz Hassan; 6 Sustained political progress: The supportive role of the military Jehangir Karamat; 7 The media in Pakistan: Idiom, ideology and the army Khaled Ahmed; PART II Pakistan's dependence on the outside world 8 Pakistan, power-play and a new South Asian paradigm Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury; 9 The making of foreign policy: Changing parameters Aziz Ahmad Khan; 10 Living in a rapidly changing world Shahid Javed Burki; 11 Defenders of the crescent: Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations Farah Jan; 12 Adversarial peace: India-Pakistan nuclear rivalry Farah Jan; 13 A potential game changer: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Daud Ahmad; PART III Economic development and the importance of good governance 14 Macroeconomic achievements and challenges Masood Ahmed; 15 History of the development discourse in Pakistan Asad Ejaz Butt; 16 Recent economic developments and prospects Farrukh Iqbal; 17 Economic governance Ishrat Husain; 18 Praetorian bureaucratization of the political system and politicization of bureaucracy Shahid Najam Contents; PART IV Social underdevelopment 19 Getting technology to work for social development Ayub Ghauri; 20 Akhuwat: New microcredit stories Muhammad Saleem Ahmad Ranjha; 21 Private sector in education Shahid Kardar; 22 Educating and employing women Nasreen Kasuri; PART V Energy and the environment 23 The downward spiral of the quality of life in Pakistan: Is control possible, or even desired? Kulsum Ahmed; 24 Water problems and solutions Mahmood Ahmad; 25 Ways of solving the energy problem Ziad Alahdad; PART VI Conclusion 26 The last word Shahid Javed Burki; 27 Postscript Shahid Javed Burki and Asad Ejaz Butt