ABSTRACT
The past is prologue in US-Pakistan relations This chapter describes the start of the war and the role of the US in making Pakistan reluctantly assist in fighting the Taliban and pursuing high value targets (so-called by the US) along the Afghan border and in Pakistan’s cities. The US subsequently constructed a client partnership that helped to drive forward and shape Pakistan’s strategies towards Islamist militants, albeit with varying degrees of success from the US perspective, but in a way that strongly defined aspects of Pakistani state behaviour as the war progressed.
