Pakistan: terror war bolsters Islamism, nationhood.(Viewpoint essay)

From: Middle East Policy | Date: March 22, 2008| Author: | Copyright information

A recent visit to Pakistan reminded me of the movie Gone With the Wind. The country where I lived and worked has been hit by turbulence that has blown away many of the symbols of secularism and Western lifestyle that once characterized its urban life. Gone were the bars and dance clubs, the love songs playing in restaurants, the movie posters showing scantily dressed actresses, and the Western women tourists strolling sidewalks in bikinis. Today stores and buses in Pakistan resonate with Quranic verses flowing out of cassette players. On college campuses coeds with elaborate ...

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