Zone Of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.

• Author: Smith, Anthony
• Position: Book review

ZONE OF CRISIS: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq

Author: Amin Saikal

Published by: I.B. Tauris, London, 2014, 225pp, 25 [pounds sterling].

Professor Amin Saikal, director of ANUs Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, is a well known commentator on Middle Eastern and South Asian history and politics. This volume, as the title suggests, focuses on four of the Muslim worlds most pivotal countries that form a contiguous 'geostrategic zone'. Saikal's volume provides an overview on each country with some well considered recommendations for the way forward; no easy task in a region beset by seemingly impossible problems. The audience for this book is likely generalists or decision-makers looking to find accessible material.

Starting with Afghanistan, Saikal notes that country's vast array of challenges, perhaps best summed up in its recent ranking by Transparency International as the most corrupt country in the world alongside North Korea and Somalia. The author worries that Afghanistan's future will be as dire as its horrifying past, on account of external competition and internal instability. Saikal, writing during the time of President Karzai, calls for better leadership after some years of nepotism and kleptocracy. He wants a better electoral system (Afghanistan currently uses single non-transferrable vote, which, unlike the transferable version, results in a massive wasted vote percentage). He wants a switch to a political system that forces parties to seek to appeal to a nationwide constituency in what is currently 'a land of minorities'; Afghanistan is full of micro-identities. Strengthening local autonomy is another recommendation. And to mitigate against getting trapped in regional rivalries, Afghanistan's long-term historical curse, Saikal believes that Afghanistan needs a determined affirmation of neutrality towards its more powerful neighbours.

That then leads to Pakistan, which Saikal (diplomatically) describes as having had a 'Janus-like agenda' towards the problem of extremism, particularly as it relates to events in Afghanistan. Pakistan's challenges are staggering, too, with a worsening insurgency in the tribal regions, which is currently tying down 120,000 troops. Saikal sees Pakistan's military as a 'state within a state' and, historically, driven by competition with civilian political opponents. Recommendations here include a cautious shift towards civilian control over government and the country's business life--cautious so...