Episode 09 - Ambassador Haqqani
Two recent pieces in the international press have been great reminders of the steep price Pakistan continues to pay for the tragic stupidities that the country endured for decades in the name of national security. In a February 6 piece for the New York, Carlotta Gall asserts that Da'esh is partly a product of Pakistan's ISI, and on Valentine's Day, a Bloomberg Business piece by Fasih Mangi and Divya Patil suggests that Pakistan is about to default. For even casual observers, both pieces fail to offer compelling evidence, or really any kind of evidence at all for their very substantial claims. Fasi and Mosharraf asked author and former Pakistani ambassador to Sri Lanka and the United States, Husain Haqqani, to help navigate the narratives these kinds of pieces represent. It is a magnificent conversation. Links to the said pieces and to Ambassador Haqqani's latest book, Magnificent Delusions... The Gall piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/sunday/pakistans-hand-in-the-rise-of-international-jihad.html The Bloomberg piece: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-14/pakistan-default-risk-surges-as-50-billion-debt-bill-coming-due Magnificent Delusions: http://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Delusions-Pakistan-History-Misunderstanding/dp/1610393171
