ABSTRACT
Since 2001, Pakistan has gained geopolitical importance in international politics because of terrorism stemming from the volatile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (the FATA). The FATA is a semi-autonomous region of the country that was governed under the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) 1901, which was inherited from the British. After partition, it remained a grey area where the government had scant control. Pakistan suffered enormous losses during the War on Terror. Subsequently, most political parties and the military establishment of Pakistan agreed to implement reforms in the legal, socio-economic, political and security systems there. Thereafter, the proposal to merge the FATA into the mainstream remained under discussion between different stakeholders for several years. In May 2018, the parliament of Pakistan under the 31st Constitutional Amendment approved the merger of the FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). This chapter aims to highlight the underlying causes and challenges facing the merger. It also discusses diverse views on the merger and analyses its implications for Pakistan. Further, this study examines its impact on the internal security of Pakistan and bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
