Pakistan: Democratization and U.S. Interests

Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani — a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party — in his first order of business March 24, ordered the release of judges placed under house arrest Nov. 3, 2007, by President Pervez Musharraf. This incident is quite telling of what to expect from Islamabad under the new government in terms of its need to placate domestic concerns on national issues — especially the country's counterterrorism cooperation with the United States, which has faced severe criticism from almost all quarters. The coming changes in the nature of U.S.-Pakistani coordination in the war against militant Islamists underscore how the democratization of authoritarian states can complicate key U.S. objectives.