India-Pakistan: February 15, 2003

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Pakistani instability continues as Islamic radicals gain popularity because of their promise of corruption free government. However, many Pakistanis are not willing to accept the religious and social conservatism that comes with Islamic rule. Moreover, many Pakistanis have observed what happened when Islamic conservatives took over in Iran in 1979. Within a decade, Iran was as rife with government corruption as it had ever been. The only other alternatives for Pakistan are a republican revolution, like Turkey went through in the 1920s, that firmly separated religion and government. However, the Turks did not have the degree of ethnic and tribal divisions found in Pakistan. The Turks had a national unity that Pakistan lacks. But Pakistan does have nuclear weapons, which becomes more of a problem as the country becomes more unstable. 

 

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