Реферат: Pakistan Essay Research Paper Pakistan

support and allow it to develop closer ties with its neighbors. After the cold

war, many third world countries were abandoned by their protectorates- the U.S.

or the former soviet Union. However Pakistan’s elite has yet to fend for itself

(Rashad 158). Pakistan’s relations with India worsened. Since the creation of

Pakistan, relations with India have dominated foreign affairs. These relations

reflect a centuries old rivalry between Hindus and Muslims. The reason for the

tensions today is allegations that each side was on the verge of conducting

nuclear tests (Year Book 2462).

Much of Pakistan’s problems stem from a legacy of rule by a small group

of around 300 families. Through blood ties, marriage, and business, they have

dominated the military, the bureaucracy, and the political elite. Since 1988,

when the new era of democratic civilian rule began, patronage rather than

policies has dictated economic development, politics, and even foreign policy.

(Rashad 159)

Many political analysts and even some politicians now view the feudal

political elite as a dying class. Economists report that Pakistan can no longer

raise the necessary revenues to maintain a country in which eighty-one percent

of the budget goes to defense and the repayments of foreign debts. (Banks 718)

Since 1993 the country has undergone the deepest economic recession in its

history, with high unemployment and inflation. The economy grew only four point

seven percent between 1994 and 1995, compares to a 30 year average of six

percent. The Karachi stock exchange has lost more than fifty percent of its

value in the last eighteen months, and industrial production in Karachi (which

accounts for sixty percent of the country’s total) has fallen an estimated

twenty-five percent. Foreign exchange reserves in December fell to one point

one billion, less than half of what they were in June 1995. (Hunter 1004).

Plans to privatize many state-owned businesses have been stopped due to

the anarchy plaguing the country and to the political fighting between Bhutto

and former prime minister Sharif. Also, the feudal elite has been reluctant to