Pakistan's Rising Instability: What Can Europe Do?

After two months of fighting, Pakistan's soldiers have reached the final stages of their military campaign against the Taliban in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan. The offensive indicates that the government recognises the nature of the domestic extremist threat it faces, and is willing to confront it. However, with weak civilian institutions, a fragmented civil society and a fragile economy, Pakistan cannot effectively neutralise such threats without long-term assistance from its international allies, including Europe.

Two days before the EU held its first ever bilateral summit with Pakistan on June 17th, Carnegie Europe hosted a public debate to discuss what Europe’s role should be to bring about reform and enhance stability in Pakistan. Frederic Grare, Non-Resident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, together with Shaun Gregory, Head of the Pakistan Security Research Unit at the University of Bradford, were panelists at the event, while Fabrice Pothier, Director of Carnegie Europe, chaired the debate.

Highlights included...

• Gregory called for the EU to provide immediate short-term assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while providing long-term funding for education at primary and secondary levels, including English teaching.
   
• Grare argued that if the EU is to provide assistance, it should receive firm guarantees of reforms in return and should not approach engagement in Pakistan with a mindset of panic.
   
• Gregory recommended that the EU focus efforts on empowering the wider Pakistani community to challenge the elites. Grare suggested that the international community should, by providing both resources and training, enable the police to provide necessary security assistance. This new source of stability would help counter the influence of the army and intelligence agencies that hold sway over Pakistan's political culture.