{{Short description|2004 book by Stephen P. Cohen}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox book | name = The Idea of Pakistan | image = The Idea of Pakistan.jpg | author = Stephen P. Cohen | language = English | pub_date = 2004 | country = United States | isbn = 978-0815715023 | preceded_by = India: Emerging Power<ref name=":5"/> | followed_by = The Future of Pakistan }}
'''''The Idea of Pakistan''''' is a book written by the American political scientist Stephen P. Cohen.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Mufti|first=Mariam|date=2009-04-08|title=Stephen Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan|url=https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/214|journal=South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal|doi=10.4000/samaj.214 |language=en|issn=1960-6060|doi-access=free}}</ref> First published in 2004, the book attempts to answer the question of "What is Pakistan?" and goes beyond the simplistic labels given to this south-Asian nation; by unravelling Pakistan's past, Cohen wants to predict the nation's future and how the idea of Pakistan will work.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ipcs.org/ipcs_books_selreviews.php?recNo=215|title=The Idea of Pakistan|last=Zeb|first=Rizwan|website=Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies|access-date=2019-12-06}}</ref>
==Background and content== The book is a followup to ''India: Emerging Power'' and prepares the way for ''The Future of Pakistan'', written in 2012, which was drawn from the concluding chapter of ''The Idea of Pakistan''.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://idsa.in/system/files/JDS_6_2_PriyankaSingh.pdf|title=Stephen P. Cohen and Others, The Future of Pakistan (OUP, 2012)|last=Singh|first=Priyanka|date=2 April 2012|website=Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses|access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref>
{{Quote box | quote = "Pakistan now negotiates with its allies and friends by pointing a gun to its own head" | source = ''The Idea of Pakistan, pg 270'' | width = 250px | bgcolor = #E0E6F8 }}
In the book Steve Cohen discusses the "idea of Pakistan, the state of Pakistan, regionalism and separation, demographic, educational and economic prospects, Pakistan's future and American options" among other things.<ref name=":1" /> Towards the end, Cohen outlines five futures for Pakistan (implicitly saying that the future will consist of a mix of each rather than any single one). These scenarios are: "the emergence of a moderate, democratic state; the rise of authoritarianism; the rise of an Islamist state; Pakistan’s possible breakup and Pakistan after a major war with India".<ref name=":0" />
Cohen notes how the vision of Pakistan as a state for the Muslims of South Asia was torn apart with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/142574/stephen-cohens-idea-pakistan/|title=Stephen Cohen's Idea of Pakistan|last=Faruqui|first=Ahmad|date=19 November 2017|website=Daily Times|access-date=2019-12-06}}</ref> Ahmad Faruqui notes how Cohen acknowledges that "the relentless pursuit of Kashmir has done more damage to Pakistan than any other single issue".<ref name=":2" /> He says that the vision of a democratic state "is doubtful whether the Pakistani military with its oversized political agenda will ever let this vision come to pass," adding that "the Pakistani army is long on memory and short on foresight".<ref name=":2" /> Ahmad Faruqui notes how the "book’s implicit hypothesis is that Pakistan's insecurities have led to military rule".<ref name=":2" /> Cohen also blames the politicians for being unable to make a state that fulfills basic obligations to its citizens.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hussain|first=Touqir|date=Winter 2005|title=The Idea of Pakistan|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-882844401/the-idea-of-pakistan|journal=The Middle East Journal|via=|access-date=6 December 2019|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205093112/https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-882844401/the-idea-of-pakistan|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Reviews and reactions== ''India Today'' writes that the book "is a detailed biography of a state let down by men as well as history, with every act of salvation ending as betrayal...".<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/20041122-book-review-the-idea-of-pakistan-author-stephen-philip-cohen-789107-2004-11-22|title=Book review: Stephen Philip Cohen's ''The Idea of Pakistan''|last=Prasannarajan|first=S.|date=22 November 2004|website=India Today|access-date=2019-12-06}}</ref>
Rizwan Web of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies writes that Cohen says that Pakistan is run by the "Establishment" comprising various elites; a group which <blockquote>believes that India has to be countered, nuclear weapons have secured Pakistan, Kashmir is the unfinished part of the partition plan, and large-scale social reforms are unacceptable, vocal Muslim nationalism is desirable but Islamism is not; Washington should not be trusted but should be taken maximum advantage of.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>
The book also provides a view of how Washington can advance its interests in South Asia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2004-11-01/can-pakistan-work-country-search-itself|title=Can Pakistan Work? A Country in Search of Itself|last=Pervez Hoodbhoy|date=November 2004|work=Foreign Affairs|access-date=2019-12-06|issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
Qadar Bakhsh Baloch of Qurtuba University writes, "The basic theme of the book is that the Idea of Pakistan has fallen short of its ideas and the biggest question today is how the idea of Pakistan will work".<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Baloch|first=Qadar Bakhsh|date=2006|title=[Book Review] The Idea of Pakistan|url=https://repository.globethics.net/handle/20.500.12424/187745|journal=The Dialogue|issn=1819-6470}}</ref> However Baloch writes: "Cohen's facts are questionable, his logic manipulative, and his omissions are deliberate and meaningful".<ref name=":5" />
In ''Outlook magazine'', Indian politician Jaswant Singh cites Cohen, who says that "this 'Indian dimension of Pakistan's identity' [was]...systematically overlooked by contemporary Pakistani politicians and scholars"; this, according to Singh, "creates a cruel dilemma—for it can neither be rejected nor acknowledged by Pakistan. How to reject the reality of one geography, or pervert totally a common historical past?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/pakistan-by-definition/226545|title=Pakistan, By Definition|last=Jaswant Singh|date=21 February 2005|website=Outlook India|access-date=2019-12-06}}</ref>
== See also == * The Idea of India * ''Military Inc.''
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * Book on Archive.org * {{cite book| title = The Idea of Pakistan| url = https://archive.org/details/ideaofpakistan00cohe| url-access = registration| jstor = 10.7864/j.ctt1287b4c| last1 = Cohen| first1 = Stephen Philip| year = 2004| publisher = Brookings Institution Press| isbn = 978-0-8157-1502-3}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Idea of Pakistan, The}} Category:2004 non-fiction books Category:History books about Pakistan