ABSTRACT
Pakistan’s political history has been consistently punctured with prolonged stints of military rule. Although a democratic state in principle, it is the intermittent rule by the military that has robbed Pakistan of its political destiny and shaped its political culture and practices. The army controls the nuclear assets and holds strings of domestic and external policy issues with regard to India and other strategically important countries. For nearly seventy years, the army has defined the country’s national security priorities, and many commanders have been placed in prominent economic and political positions. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Gen. Raheel Sharif as the chief of army staff in November 2013. Since then the general has been influencing Pakistan’s foreign and defence affairs, reasserting army’s role both directly and indirectly.
