ABSTRACT
Pakistan has been chastened by successive failed — and dangerous — efforts to develop 'strategic depth’ in Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia. Many critics and analysts alike have come to view Pakistan as a major source of global insecurity, due to, among other things, its past and present support for a number of militant groups operating in the region, the connections between its militant groups and several recent international terrorist conspiracies, and the disturbing revelations about the extent of A.Q. Khan's nuclear arms bazaar. 2 After the terrorist attacks against the United States in September 2001 (henceforth ‘9/11’) and President Pervez Musharraf's historic decision to join the US-led war on terrorism, Pakistan was able to redeem itself within the international community and obtain relief from layers of sanctions related to Musharraf's military coup as well as nuclear and missile proliferation. Tainted by their government's dubious past policies, Pakistani officials are loath to concede that Pakistan has a Central Asia strategy, preferring instead to focus upon Pakistan's contribution to the war on terror and its own efforts to deal with its myriad domestic problems, including expanding Islamist militancy within its own territory.
