Salman Rushdie once described Pakistan as a poorly imagined country . Indeed, Pakistan has meant different things to different people since its birth seventy years ago. Armed with nuclear weapons and dominated by the military and militants, it is variously described around the world as dangerous , unstable , a terrorist incubator and the land of the intolerant . Much of Pakistan s dysfunction is attributable to an ideology tied to religion and to hostility with the country out of which it was carved out India. But 95 per cent of Pakistan s 210 million people were born after Partition, as Pakistanis, and cannot easily give up on their home. In his new book, Husain Haqqani, one of the most important commentators on Pakistan in the world today, calls for a bold re-conceptualization of the country. Reimagining Pakistan offers a candid discussion of Pakistan s origins and its current failings, with suggestions for reconsidering its ideology, and identifies a national purpose greater than the rivalry with India.

萨尔曼-拉什迪曾将巴基斯坦描述为一个想象力贫乏的国家。的确，自七十年前诞生以来，巴基斯坦对不同的人意味着不同的事情。它拥有核武器，由军队和激进分子主导，在世界各地被描述为危险、不稳定、恐怖分子的孵化器和不容忍者的土地。巴基斯坦的功能障碍在很大程度上归因于与宗教有关的意识形态，以及与它从印度分裂出来的国家的敌意。但是，巴基斯坦的2.1亿人中有95%是在分治后出生的，作为巴基斯坦人，他们不能轻易放弃自己的家园。当今世界上最重要的巴基斯坦问题评论家之一侯赛因-哈卡尼在其新书中呼吁对这个国家进行大胆的重新认识。重新想象巴基斯坦》对巴基斯坦的起源及其目前的失败进行了坦率的讨论，提出了重新考虑其意识形态的建议，并确定了一个比与印度的竞争更伟大的国家目标。