ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the process of Pakistan's acquisition of role as a sovereign state. It shows the constitutive effects of Pakistan's historical self on its national role conceptions and highlights how its context of creation has enabled the military to emerge as the country's primary institution for its national role conceptions. Two arguments run through the chapter. First, the perception by successive civilian and military leaders throughout Pakistan's history of not having successfully acquired the role of sovereign state on an equal basis with India is nourished by historical experiences that legitimize and ensure social acceptance of their strategic choice, but also binds decision-makers to these choices. Second, the normative nature of the contemporary rules-based institutional order places and values democracy as a key feature of the role of sovereign state. In other words, the analysis shows that sovereignty as a role encompasses not only citizenry, territorial definition and state authority, but also the nature of the political regime. The chapter thus argues that the sovereignty role of states and others' validation or rejection of ego's enactment of the role of sovereign states is in part determined by the democratic nature of the regime.
