Washington: Arguing that billions of dollars in aid has failed to convince Pakistani leadership to give up their association with extremists, a top American scholar has suggested the US to talk tough with Pakistan by cutting off military and civilian assistance, and strengthening ties with India.
"A whole variety of gentle forms of persuasion have been tried and failed. The only option left is a drastic one. The irony is that this approach won`t benefit just the United States: the whole region, including Pakistan, could quickly find itself better off," said Stephen Krasner, an international relations professor at Stanford University.
Krasner was the Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State, a position he held from 2005 until April 2007. He is a senior fellow at Stanford University`s Hoover Institution. Writing for the latest issue of the prestigious Foreign Affairs, Krasner said despite Pakistan`s ongoing problematic behavior, however, aid has continued to flow.
The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, even certified in March 2011 that Pakistan had made a "sustained commitment" to combating terrorist groups, he noted.
"Actions such as this have undermined American credibility when it comes to pressuring Pakistan to live up to its side of the bargain. The US has shown that the sticks that come with its carrots are hollow," the former State Department official said.
"The only way the United States can actually get what it wants out of Pakistan is to make credible threats to retaliate if Pakistan does not comply with US demands and offer rewards only in return for cooperative actions taken," he argued.
"US officials should tell their Pakistani counterparts in no uncertain terms that they must start playing ball or face malign neglect at best and, if necessary, active isolation," he said.
"Malign neglect would mean ending all US assistance, military and civilian; severing intelligence cooperation; continuing and possibly escalating US drone strikes; initiating cross-border special operations raids; and strengthening US ties with India. Active isolation would include, in addition, declaring Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, imposing sanctions, and pressuring China and Saudi Arabia to cut off their support, as well," Krasner said.
The former State Department official said the US must make clear that if it ended its assistance to Pakistan, Pakistan would not be able to retaliate.
"The United States could continue its drone strikes, perhaps using the stealth versions of them that it is currently developing. It could suppress Pakistani air defenses, possibly with electronic jammers, so as to limit military deaths and collateral damage," he said.
The US might even be able to conduct some Special Forces raids, which would be of such short duration and against such specific targets that Pakistan would not be able to retaliate with conventional force, he said.
Observing that the US must show that it can neutralise one of Pakistan`s trump cards: its role in the war in Afghanistan, Krasner said the US must develop a strategy for Afghanistan that works without Pakistan`s help.
That means a plan that does not require transporting personnel or materiel through Pakistan. "Washington must shed its fear that its withdrawal of aid or open antagonism could lead to the Pakistani state`s collapse, a radical Islamist takeover, or nuclear war. Pakistanis, not Americans, have always determined their political future," he said. PTI