Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding
Nov 2013 · Sold by PublicAffairs
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The relationship between America and Pakistan is based on mutual incomprehension and always has been. Pakistan -- to American eyes -- has gone from being a quirky irrelevance, to a stabilizing friend, to an essential military ally, to a seedbed of terror. America -- to Pakistani eyes -- has been a guarantee of security, a coldly distant scold, an enthusiastic military enabler, and is now a threat to national security and a source of humiliation.
The countries are not merely at odds. Each believes it can play the other -- with sometimes absurd, sometimes tragic, results. The conventional narrative about the war in Afghanistan, for instance, has revolved around the Soviet invasion in 1979. But President Jimmy Carter signed the first authorization to help the Pakistani-backed mujahedeen covertly on July 3 -- almost six months before the Soviets invaded. Americans were told, and like to believe, that what followed was Charlie Wilson's war of Afghani liberation, with which they remain embroiled to this day. It was not. It was General Zia-ul-Haq's vicious regional power play.
Husain Haqqani has a unique insight into Pakistan, his homeland, and America, where he was ambassador and is now a professor at Boston University. His life has mapped the relationship of the two countries and he has found himself often close to the heart of it, sometimes in very confrontational circumstances, and this has allowed him to write the story of a misbegotten diplomatic love affair, here memorably laid bare.
The countries are not merely at odds. Each believes it can play the other -- with sometimes absurd, sometimes tragic, results. The conventional narrative about the war in Afghanistan, for instance, has revolved around the Soviet invasion in 1979. But President Jimmy Carter signed the first authorization to help the Pakistani-backed mujahedeen covertly on July 3 -- almost six months before the Soviets invaded. Americans were told, and like to believe, that what followed was Charlie Wilson's war of Afghani liberation, with which they remain embroiled to this day. It was not. It was General Zia-ul-Haq's vicious regional power play.
Husain Haqqani has a unique insight into Pakistan, his homeland, and America, where he was ambassador and is now a professor at Boston University. His life has mapped the relationship of the two countries and he has found himself often close to the heart of it, sometimes in very confrontational circumstances, and this has allowed him to write the story of a misbegotten diplomatic love affair, here memorably laid bare.
The relationship between America and Pakistan is based on mutual incomprehension and always has been. Pakistan -- to American eyes -- has gone from being a quirky irrelevance, to a stabilizing friend, to an essential military ally, to a seedbed of terror. America -- to Pakistani eyes -- has been ...
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Ratings and reviews
7 reviews
Sandeep Mittal
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October 21, 2014
Brilliant book on US-Pak relations which also give insight into history of partition and tumultuous relationship of India and Pakistan.
Aamir Jan Bangash
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February 10, 2014
Overall a good reading. The author have tried to clear the Indian phobia from Pakistani readers.
1 person found this review helpful
Smiley
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July 3, 2020
Rubbish
About the author
Husain Haqqani was Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011. A trusted advisor of late Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, Ambassador Haqqani is as a professor at Boston University and co-chair of the Hudson Institute's Project on the Future of the Muslim World as well as editor of the journal Current Trends in Islamist Thought. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, and more. Follow him on Twitter: @husainhaqqani
Husain Haqqani was Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011. A trusted advisor of late Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, Ambassador Haqqani is as a professor at Boston University and co-chair of the Hudson Institute's Project on the Future of the Muslim World as well a...
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