This report from the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies criticizes US policy towards Pakistan and offers advice on developing a better approach. It particularly focuses on the role of US aid, which it argues has been devoted to short-term counterterrorism objectives and suffers from a lack of transparency when it should instead be directed towards Pakistan's underlying fault lines, which are argued to be "a culture of impunity and injustice, discontent in the provinces, ethnic and sectarian tensions, a rapidly growing and urbanizing youth population, and extremist views among traditional in-country allies." It argues that US aid should be fashioned in concordance with the goals of broadening and diversifying US partners in Pakistani society, encouraging a regional approach to security and development strategies, encouraging judicial independence and police capacity, developing a multidonor strategy to provide opportunities to youth, and continuing the devolution of governance to the local level. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
