ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the empirical and theoretical puzzles that will be explored in the book. It highlights common misunderstandings of Pakistan as a social actor of the international system and emphasizes that classical and current approaches have so far failed to make sense of the paradox of Pakistan's foreign policy behavior and its remarkable ideational stability in a highly unstable context. The argument relies on social processes. It demonstrates why social processes matter and offer rich and innovative analytical tools to make sense of countries such as Pakistan. The chapter thus develops the need for intersubjective models. In this regard, role theory is highlighted as particularly well-suited for such an endeavor and provides an interactionist perspective to focus on social agents' interactions as key features of interstate relations. The chapter explains that the puzzle can be reconstituted with role theory, and highlights the added value that the case of Pakistan brings to both Pakistani studies and role theory scholarship.
