Is Pakistan in The Middle East

Is Pakistan in the Middle East?
Syed Salah Ahmed
Is Pakistan in the Middle East?

by Syed Salah Ahmed1
Thesis.............................................................................................................................................. 2
Evolution of the term ‘Middle East’............................................................................................ 2
Characteristics of Middle Eastern Countries ............................................................................. 4
Pakistan.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Shared history ............................................................................................................................... 8
Cultural similarities and differences ........................................................................................... 9
Pakistan’s Islamic ideology ........................................................................................................ 10
Pakistan’s relations with other Middle Eastern countries ...................................................... 12
The War on Terror ..................................................................................................................... 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 15
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 16
Cradle of the oldest known civilizations of the world, birthplace to four2 of the world’s
oldest monotheistic traditions, meeting place of the cultures of the East and the West, and home
to some of the greatest land empires the world has ever seen, the Middle East has played a
central role in world history. But the word ‘Middle East’ itself is a new term, coined only in the
20th century by people who were foreign to the area it denotes, and describes a region today that
is relatively backward, war-torn and only recently de-colonized.
‘Middle East’ is a problematic term. It is not the name of a nation state or of a continent,
nor is it the name of a political grouping. Rather, the Middle East is a vaguely defined region that
1
Syed Salah Ahmed, Yale College Class of 2011. This paper was written in May 2009.
2
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam
1
Is Pakistan in the Middle East? Syed Salah Ahmed
is centered on northern Arabia in south-west Asia. Depending on the definition, Middle Eastern
countries exist in three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe3) and number anywhere from 154 to
245 countries. The Middle East is important today because the region is home to three crucial
political phenomena of the modern world: oil, the Arab-Israel conflict, and the rise of political
Islam. The Middle East has witnessed several wars in the past five decades, which helps to
attract the constant media coverage that it gets.
Thesis
The aim of this paper is to argue whether Pakistan forms part of the Middle East. This is
important to do because doing so would involve defining the term ‘Middle East’ and would help
suggest whether the definition is based on history, political and security concerns, culture,
geography, or all of these.
First, I will look into how the term ‘Middle East’ evolved and the way it was used in
academic and political contexts. Next, I will give a brief history of the region of Pakistan and
will attempt to point out the similarities and differences between the histories and cultures of
Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries. Then there will be a discussion on the ways in which
successive Pakistani governments have sought to align Pakistan with the Middle East. Then there
will be a section on current political and security concerns in the region, especially the War on
Terror. Last, I will give a conclusion based on my arguments and observations.
Evolution of the term ‘Middle East’

The term ‘Middle East’ was coined in 1902 by Captain Alfred T. Mahan, who was a U.S.
naval officer, to describe a vaguely defined area around the Persian Gulf.6 The same region had
earlier been described by Europeans as the ‘Orient’ or the ‘Near East’. The term ‘Middle East’ is
obviously Eurocentric, as countries such as Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia may lie to Europe’s
east, but not, say, to China’s. Similarly, what does the ‘Middle’ in the ‘Middle East’ refer to? For
Europeans, ‘East’ was not only a geographical designation, but also a cultural one. For 17th
3
If you count Turkey
4
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE,
Yemen
5
plus Afghanistan, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia
6
(Colbert C. Held, 2005, p. 8)
2
century Orientalists, the ‘East’ signified backwardness, while ‘West’ signified freedom,
technological superiority and enlightenment.7 In contrast, medieval Arabs had used the words
‘East’ and ‘West’ differently, designating North Africa as al-Maghreb (West) and the Arab lands
east of Libya as al-Mashriq (East).8
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ‘East’ was used by Europeans to refer to
the lands of the Ottoman Empire, while ‘Far East’ was used for China, Japan and Indo-China.
Later, with the colonization of India, ‘East’ was used for India and Persia, while the Ottoman
lands came to be described as the ‘Near East’.9 After the First World War, the British became
increasingly involved in the region as colonial masters or administrators of the Mandates system
allotted to them by the League of Nations. The British used the designation ‘Middle East
Command’ for their military forces that extended from the Central Mediterranean into the Indian
Subcontinent. The setting up of the Middle East Supply Centre in Cairo gave the term an official
sanction, and ‘Middle East’ increasingly came to be used in government publications. The Attlee
government in Britain officially termed Egypt, Libya, Israel, Jordan and Syria part of a ‘Middle
East’. At the same time organizations and publications, such as books and journals, started using
the word Middle East, for example, the Washington-based Middle East institute and its Middle
East Journal were founded in 1946.10
The Americans followed the lead of the British in the official usage of the term Middle
East. While the U.S. Department of State responsible for this area is officially titled Bureau of
Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), other agencies, such as the CIA, prefer the term Middle East.11
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and
including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the
Arabian Peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."12 In 2004, the Bush administration,
seeking to overcome anti-West and anti-American sentiments in the Middle East, proposed a
project with G-8 countries titled the ‘Greater Middle East Initiative’, defining the Greater Middle
7
(Lockman, 2004, p. 58)
8
(Jaffrelot, 2004, p. 10)
9
10
11
12
(Davison, 1960)
3
East as including the countries of the Arab world, plus Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and
Israel.13
Various definitions of the term Middle East have been given by academics and
politicians. The anthropologist Carleton S. Coon placed the modern nations of Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Iran and Afghanistan in the Middle East, though he stated that countries such as Turkey,
Sudan and Pakistan could also be considered as part of the Middle East even though “each is
transitional to another culture”.14 Sir Percy Loraine, the British High Commissioner to Egypt and
Sudan in 1929, restricted the term to Iran, Iraq, Arabia and Afghanistan.15 According to the
geographer William Fisher, Middle East “can be regarded as a conventional term of general
convenience, like Central Europe or the American Middle West, with many definitions in more
detail feasible and logically possible”.16
Though the term Middle East still does not enjoy universal usage, it is the term currently
used by Middle Easterners themselves (‫ ﺍاﻟﺸﺮﻕق ﺍاﻷﻭوﺳﻂ‬in Arabic, Orta Doğu in Turkish, ‫ ﺧﺎﻭوﺭر ﻣﻴﯿﺎﻥن‬in
Persian).17 Because of the Eurocentric nature of the term, some experts have suggested using the
more neutral ‘Southwest Asia’. Currently, Middle East is widely used in the international media
to define the region extending from Egypt to Iran, though the western media tends to include
North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well.18
Characteristics of Middle Eastern Countries

What does it mean for a country to be Middle Eastern? As outlined above, there are no
set boundaries or latitudes or longitudes on the world map within which, it can be said, lays the
Middle East. However, I have compiled here some identifiers which can be used to describe a
13
(G-8 Greater Middle East Partnership Working Paper, 2004)
14
(Coon, 2007, p. 2)
15
(Fisher, 1978, p. 1)
16
(Fisher, 1978, p. 1)
17
(Deborah J. Gerner, 2003, p. 13)
18
4
country as Middle Eastern.19 These identifiers, or characteristics, are not accepted officially or
universally, otherwise there would be no point to writing this paper.
Firstly, all Middle Eastern countries have a history of being ruled by Muslim dynasties,
starting from the Umayyads, down to the Ottomans and Qajars. This explains why Ethiopia,
despite its proximity to the Arabian Peninsula, is not considered to be in the Middle East,
because it was never under Muslim rule for an extended period. However, countries such as
Greece and the Balkan states are not considered Middle Eastern either, despite centuries of
Ottoman rule. This would suggest that not only should Middle Eastern countries have a history
of Muslim rule, they must also currently be Muslim majority countries. The only exception to
this rule is Israel, but even in Israel’s case the majority of its non-Muslim population is European
in origin and only arrived in Israel during the last century.20
Secondly, Middle Eastern countries should be geographically located in south-western

Asia and North Africa. This explains why Indonesia, which has a history of Muslim rule and is
also a Muslim majority country, is not considered Middle Eastern, as Indonesia is located in
Southeast Asia. But what about those countries which are in proximity to the ‘core’ Middle
Eastern countries?21 As mentioned in the last section, the status of countries such as Morocco,
Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, and Afghanistan and Pakistan is doubtful. Are Morocco, Algeria,
Libya and Tunisia in the Middle East, or do they constitute a separate grouping, and are the
characteristics of this grouping sufficiently distinct from the characteristics of other Middle
Eastern countries, especially Egypt, which is also in North Africa? Similarly should Afghanistan
be grouped with the Middle East or with Central Asia, and should Pakistan be grouped with the
Middle East or with South Asia?
Thirdly, Middle Eastern countries are often grouped together by the West because none
of them are liberal democracies. For example, countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and
Morocco are monarchies; Turkey, Pakistan and Algeria have had intermittent military rule;
religion plays a constitutional role in Israeli, Iranian and Lebanese politics; and countries such as
Egypt and Libya are de facto dictatorships.
19
In trying to define the Middle East, I will restrict myself to countries and will not talk about provinces or sub-
regions.
20
21
Such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran
5
Fourthly, a major characteristic of Middle Eastern countries is that a huge role is played
by political Islam. Examples of Islamic political movements or political parties include the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan, Justice and Development Party in Turkey, Jamaat
Islami in Pakistan and Afghanistan, United Iraqi Alliance in Iraq, the banned Islamic Salvation
Front in Algeria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine et cetera.
Fifthly, most Middle Eastern countries are ‘new’ countries. During the 19th century
European powers became increasingly involved politically and economically in the Middle East.
After World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France divided up its
remnants under the League of Nations sanctioned Mandates system. When Britain and France
left the Middle East after World War II, they created nation states which had never before
existed as independent states. Thus, while in the 17th century, the Middle East was dominated by
a few large empires and sultanates, such as the Ottoman and Safavid empires, in the middle of
the 20th century, it was dotted by several nation states.22
The point of outlining these characteristics was not to essentialize the Middle East, but
rather to provide a platform which would make comparison and analysis possible.
Pakistan
Now we will turn our attention to Pakistan. To be able to decide whether Pakistan is in
the Middle East, it is essential to give a background of its history, politics and culture.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a Muslim majority state in Asia, bordering India,
China, Afghanistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. The country was born in 1947, when the British
were forced to partition India on the basis of religion, due to a relentless constitutional struggle
by Indian Muslims. The Muslim majority areas of British India, namely West Punjab, Sindh,
Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), as well as East Bengal, were given
to Pakistan, while the rest of British India was given to the new Union of India.23
Though Pakistan, like most Middle Eastern states, is a new country, the region of
Pakistan has a long history of human civilization. The area was home to the grand Indus Valley
Civilization in third millennium BC. This civilization was centered on the Indus River,
22
(Deborah J. Gerner, 2003, p. 14)
23
(Malik, 2008, p. 111)
6
Pakistan’s major river and lifeline (the word ‘India’ comes from Indus).24 With the arrival of the
Aryans from Central Asia in the second millennium BC, the area became a major centre and
breeding ground of Hinduism. In the fifth century BC, the Indus plains formed the most
populous and richest satrapy of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great conquered
it in 334 BC, and wanted to go on till the ‘edge of the world’, but his troops refused to march
beyond the Indus. The Indus plains continued to remain under Greek influence till they were
conquered by the Mauryan emperor, Asoka the Great. Indo-Greek rulers continued to rule the
area of modern Pakistan till the arrival of the Arabs in 712 CE.25
The Muslim conquest of Sindh was a turning point in the region’s history. The Arabs
were able to gain control of Sindh, southern Punjab, and parts of Baluchistan. The next main
stage of Muslim conquests started in 997 CE by Mahmud of Ghazni. Mahmud founded the large
Central Asian Ghaznavid Empire, and was the first Muslim ruler to hold the title of ‘Sultan’,
which signified his immense power. The next major dynasty after the Ghaznavids was the
Ghaurid Dynasty, which not only was successful in capturing much of the Ghaznavid Empire,
but also made territorial gains in northern India, establishing a capital in Delhi. Thus started the
Delhi Sultanate which was a military state ruled by Muslims of Turko-Persian origins and which
lasted for three hundred years.26 The Delhi Sultans were overthrown by yet another invading
army from Central Asia, this time the Mughals (Mughal is Persian for Mongol: though actually
Turkish, the new invaders were mistaken for Mongols by Indians27). The Mughals were the most
magnificent of the Muslim dynasties of India, and built wonderful landmarks such as the Taj
Mahal in Agra, the Red Fort in Delhi, and the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. The Mughal Empire
was terminated by the British in 1857, who ruled India till 1947. In 1947, the countries of India
and Pakistan were born.28
24
(Malik, 2008, p. 23)
25
(Malik, 2008, pp. 37-42)
26
(Malik, 2008, pp. 49-59)
27
(Malik, 2008, p. 66)
28
(Malik, 2008, p. 84)
7
Shared history
It will be interesting to point out the similarities between the history of Pakistan and the
history of the Middle East, from the time of the Achaemenid Empire, down to 1857 when the
British formally incorporated India into the British Empire.
The Achaemenid Empire ruled the area of the modern Middle East as well as the area of
modern Pakistan and Central Asia. Later, Alexander the Great conquered all these territories
from the Persians, thus bringing both the Middle East and Pakistan under Greek influence.29
There was break in the shared histories of the two regions around the first century BC when the
western part of the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine and Syria) came under Roman control, while
the eastern part (Persia, Mesopotamia, northern Arabia) was under Sassanid rule.30 The area of
Pakistan at that time was being ruled by Indo-Greek dynasties. However the histories unified
again when the Arab Muslims conquered all of the Modern Middle East (except Anatolia) and
also established a foothold in southern and eastern Pakistan in the 7th century.31 This was
followed by the age of Turkish hegemony, when the Great Suljuq Empire ruled over most of the
modern Middle East, and the Delhi Sultans, who too were of Turkish origin, ruled over Pakistan
and Northern India.32 The Mongol invasions, starting in 1219, overran much of Persia but were
stopped in Egypt by the Mamluks and in India by the Delhi Sultans. When Hulegu Khan
established the Il-Khanate in the 13th century, the Mongols controlled not only Persia,
Mesopotamia and much of Anatolia, but also western Pakistan and Afghanistan. Similarly, the
hordes of Tamerlane not only overran much of the Middle Eastern world, but also invaded and
sacked Delhi.33 Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan, first developed in the barracks
of Turco-Mongol soldiers. The word ‘Urdu’ comes from ‘ordu’, the word for horde in
Mongolian. The Mughals, who later ruled northern India and modern Pakistan till the 19th
century, were descendents of Tamerlane.
There were also several cultural similarities between the two regions in the time outlined
above. Just like the Mamluks of Egypt never spoke Arabic, the Delhi Sultans too preferred
29
(Fisher, 1978, p. 158), (Malik, 2008, p. 37)
30
(Fisher, 1978, p. 161), (Malik, 2008, p. 42)
31
(Malik, 2008, p. 51)
32
33
(Malik, 2008, p. 59)
8
Turkish and Persian over local languages. Even the court life of the two dynasties was similar;
the 13th century Arab historian Isami compared the court in Delhi to those in other major cities of
the Muslim world in the following words “Many genuine descendents of the Prophet arrived
there from Arabia, many traders from Khurasan, many painters from China…many learned men
from every part. In that auspicious city they gathered, they came like moths around a candle.”34
After the Mongols burned the religious institutions in Baghdad and Damascus, it was Cairo and
Delhi that became important centers of Islamic education, with some of the greatest madrassahs
in the Muslim world being founded in India. As more people converted to Islam, Arabic
language and rituals continued to diffuse in the local culture. However, unlike in Syria, Egypt
and North Africa, and similar to in Anatolia and Persia, Muslims in India were never numerous
enough to be able to impose Arabic on the locals. But, as in the case of Persian and Turkish, the
scripts of local languages such as Sindhi and Pashto changed to the Arabic script. The educated
classes of Pakistan and Northern India, much like in the rest of the Muslim World, learned and
spoke Arabic and Persian.35 Later Urdu, which developed as an Islamicate language, became
popular in the region and was chosen as the national language of Pakistan.36
Cultural similarities and differences

Not only does Pakistan share its history with other Middle Eastern countries, it also
shares cultural values and traditions.
Contemporary Pakistani culture, like Arab, Turkish or Persian culture, is primarily an

Islamic culture, as Islam plays a big role in the rituals, holidays, social norms, legal systems and
even linguistic vocabulary of the peoples of the Middle East. From the call to the morning
prayer, to the festive environment during the month of Ramadan, the celebration of Eid and other
religious holidays, the importance placed on religious education, and similar art, architecture and
music, there are many things which Middle Eastern countries share in common with each other
that have their roots in Islam.
Westernization too has played its part in bringing Middle Eastern countries closer to each
other. Starting with European colonization, the Middle East has become more westernized, with
34
(Dunn, 2004, pp. 183-212)
35
(Malik, 2008, p. 60)
36
9
some countries, such as Turkey and those of the Maghreb, being more so due to their proximity
to Europe. Many Pakistanis, like their counterparts in other Middle Eastern countries, are
educated in English and French, watch American movies, and eat in fast food restaurants.
However there is one key difference between Pakistani culture and the rest of the Middle
East. Greater Syria, Anatolia, Arabia, North Africa and Persia have historically been Muslim
majority areas, while the Indian subcontinent never had a Muslim majority. This resulted in
South Asian Islam being heavily influenced by South Asia’s local religions and cultures, such as
Hinduism, and popular Islam in Pakistan and India being less ‘orthodox’ compared to in other
countries. Also, contemporary Pakistani culture came to be defined more by its relatively recent
British past than by the centuries of Muslim Turco-Persian rule. While, due to centuries of
Ottoman rule, Turkish and Arab cultures (and other cultures, such as Kurdish) are perceived to
be similar, British rule over the whole of South Asia, from Pakistan to Burma, led to the
cohesion of the cultures of these varied regions. The British strove to promote a Hindustani
(Indian) identity, which was separate from the Hindu or Muslim identities of its people.37
An important question to ask would be whether Pakistanis and other Middle Easterners,
such as Arabs and Turks, consider themselves to share a similar culture. I do not know of any
surveys or studies that have been undertaken in this regard, and making a guess would be
problematic.
Pakistan’s Islamic ideology

The strongest reason for Pakistan to be considered a Middle Eastern country is the
country’s Muslim identity. Just like the British tried to promote a Hindustani identity in united
India, successive Pakistani governments have strove to augment the country’s strong Muslim
identity through propaganda, legislation and foreign policy.38
Pakistan was created to be a Muslim state. The idea of Pakistan was based on the Two-
Nation Theory of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who was a leading Indian Muslim reformer of the 19th
century. The Two-Nation Theory argued that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations
because they had different religions, cultures, and languages; therefore they could not possibly
37
38
10
coexist on an equitable and peaceful basis. While historically, a large Hindu majority had
peacefully lived under Muslim minority rule for centuries, he said that Muslims would not be
able to live under a Hindu majority rule as there were no safeguards against a dominant Hindu
majority trying to impose its whims on a Muslim minority.39 Therefore the All India Muslim
League struggled against the British colonial rulers to achieve a Muslim Pakistan, as against a
Hindu India.
Since independence from British rule in 1947, nation-building in Pakistan has stressed on
its Muslim identity. It is due to this Islamic identity that many in the West think of Pakistan as
being in the Middle East rather than in South Asia.
Pakistan is an ideological state, a state created in the name of Islam as a home intended
for all Indian Muslims. The choice of Urdu as the national language stressed this point: even
though it was spoken as a mother tongue by less than five percent of Pakistanis (the educated
classes spoke and wrote in Urdu), Urdu was chosen to be the official language due to its
historical evolution as a ‘Muslim’ language.40 Similarly, naming the new capital constructed in
1960 Islamabad showed the importance the country’s leaders placed on Islam. Pakistan’s Islamic
identity is further reflected in its constitution. The 1973 constitution proclaims that “all
sovereignty belongs to Allah” and that “no law contrary to the Quran and Sunnah would be
passed”. In 1977, even alcohol and gambling were banned (alcohol for Muslims only) by
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government.41
But the real Islamization of Pakistan started under the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq. Zia was
a pious Muslim and he started a systemic Islamization program in the country. He made the
teaching of Islamic Studies compulsory in schools. Shariah benches were introduced in courts to
hear cases according to Islamic Law, rather than the Anglo-Saxon Law which, as the legacy of
the British, was prevalent in Pakistan. The Hudood Ordinance 1979 proscribed strict Quranic
punishments for theft, adultery, false allegation and drinking. In the 1990s, the civilian
government of Nawaz Sharif also played its role in further Islamisizing Pakistan. Sharif wanted
to introduce Shariah Law in Pakistan before he was overthrown in a military coup by Pervez
39
(Malik, 2008, p. 113)
40
41
11
Musharraf.42 Therefore, due to an official effort to Islamisize the country, and because the
country is not a liberal democracy as India is, Pakistan is seen in the West to be closer to the
Middle East than to South Asia.
Pakistan’s relations with other Middle Eastern countries

If there was a Middle East Union similar to the European Union, Pakistan would have
tried hard to join the Middle East Union, just like Turkey is trying hard to join the European
Union.
No single aspect reflects the official Pakistani policy of promoting its Islamic identity,
than Pakistan’s foreign policy. At its inception, Pakistan was the largest Muslim country in the
world, and thus felt a duty to further the cause of Muslims in the world. For example, soon after
the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Pakistan began its support for the Palestinian people and refused to
recognize Israel, a stance it has maintained till today. During the 1950s, the Pakistani mission at
the United Nations was an avid supporter of decolonization, especially of Muslim countries in
Africa.43 During the Cold War era, Pakistan was firmly entrenched in the western camp because
the Soviet communist ideology was seen as an atheist and therefore un-Islamic ideology.44
Pakistan joined the Baghdad Pact 1955, along with Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Britain, to form an
anti-communist bloc in the Middle East.45 Pakistan also played a leading role in the founding of
the World Islamic Conference in 1969 in Rabat (later renamed the Organization of Islamic
Countries). OIC today has 57 member states and is the leading forum for Muslims of the world.46
Pakistan enjoys warm relations with nearly all Middle Eastern countries, its closest allies
being Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE. Pakistan has excellent diplomatic and military relations
with Turkey and supports it in the Cyprus issue, while Turkey supports Pakistan on the Kashmir
issue. Pakistan’s relations with Iran were excellent till the 1979 revolution in Iran overthrew the
Shah and brought into power a Shia establishment (Pakistan is majority Sunni). Pakistan has
defense agreements with nearly all Arab states and provides extensive military assistance to
42
43
(Malik, 2008, p. 139)
44
45
(Malik, 2008, p. 138)
46
12
these countries (pilots, technical workers, and even entire corps). In return, Pakistan gets
economic assistance from the oil rich Arab states. A large percentage of migrant workers in these
countries are Pakistani citizens and mostly work in menial jobs, although the teaching and
medical professions are also well represented.47 The official Pakistani reason for such warm ties
is the shared Muslim identity with these countries. The naming of public locations will give an
idea of the strength of these relations: Faisalabad, the fourth largest city in Pakistan, and Faisal
Masjid, the largest mosque, are named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia; Qaddafi Stadium, the
most important cricket venue in the country, is named after Colonel Qaddafi of Libya; there is a
Sheikh Zayed International Airport in southern Punjab; and the Ankara Avenue is the name of an
important street in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.48
The War on Terror

The War on Terror is seen as a Middle Eastern phenomenon, and Pakistan is at the heart
of this war. Therefore Pakistan has been increasingly associated with the Middle East, both in
Western official policy and in the media.
The War on Terror began as an international effort to combat global terrorist

organizations. It was started by the United States in response to the September 11 attacks in
2001. These attacks targeted American civilian and military targets and were carried out by al-
Qaeda terrorists. As a first step in the war, a NATO coalition invaded Afghanistan to remove the
Taliban from power and to find Osama bin Laden, who, along with other top al-Qaeda leaders,
was hiding in Afghanistan. The Americans demanded Pakistan’s support in the war against the
Taliban. Pakistan agreed, and since then, has been the focus of the war against the Taliban.49
The story of extremism and terrorism in the Islamist context starts with the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The jihad in Afghanistan was a turning point in Pakistan’s
history. Pakistan not only provided moral and diplomatic support to the Afghan cause in
international forums, the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus also provided ground
support to the mujahideen in Afghanistan. The Pakistani province of NWFP, especially its
capital Peshawar, became the headquarters of the insurgency in Afghanistan. At the same time,
47
48
49
13
the Pakistani government decided to host millions of refugees fleeing the war in Afghanistan,
50
and this raised Pakistan’s esteem in the Muslim world.
A major consequence of the Afghan Jihad (1979-1988) was the emergence of radical
Sunni Islamist armed guerilla groups, most notably al-Qaeda. These groups were created to fight
the Soviet Occupation in Afghanistan. They received funding from the Saudi and United States
governments, as well as from individuals from the Arab world, and received weapons from the
United States and Pakistani governments. They were trained in thousands of madrassahs that
were created along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Pakistani intelligence agencies, most
notably the ISI, played a central role in organizing and training different guerilla groups,
distributing weapons amongst them, and providing them strategic support. Maktab al-Khidmaat,
or Office of Services, was established by Abdullah Azzam in 1984 in Peshawar, Pakistan, to
enlist people in the Jihad.51 Many citizens of Arab countries came to Pakistan as volunteers for
the Jihad. These people fought in Afghanistan and came to be known as the Afghan-Arabs. Most
of them returned to their home countries after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989,
though some stayed in Afghanistan and took part in the Afghan Civil War which brought the
Taliban to power in 1994. The Afghan War resulted in a network of veterans who had fought
side by side in Afghanistan against a foreign occupation, and who returned, radicalized, to their
countries. Thus al-Qaeda was born.52
Al-Qaeda started its operations in the early 90’s, carrying out terrorist attacks against
American civilian and military targets in Africa and in the Middle East. This culminated in the
spectacular September 11 attacks in 2001, which drew a furious response from the American
government. The NATO led war in Afghanistan was able to get rid of the Taliban government in
Kabul, but it has failed to completely finish off the Taliban threat or even to find Osama bin
Laden. It is believed that many al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban leaders had gone in hiding along
the Pakistan-Afghan border, or in Pakistan itself. Pakistan’s army and intelligence services are
known to be sympathetic towards the Taliban and the Taliban were able to regroup in Pakistan.53
Since 2005, the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan has been gaining strength. In 2007 a Pakistani
50
51
(Jaffrelot, 2004, pp. 138-140)
52
53
(Mazzetti, 2009)
14
version of the Taliban was involved in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. These Pakistani Taliban
are currently fighting an insurgency in Pakistan and have militarily taken over some areas in
Pakistan, such as the Swat Valley.54 Pakistan’s major cities have been rocked by terrorist attacks.
The War on Terror has reinforced the image that Pakistan is in the Middle East. In 2004,
President Bush presented his proposals for a Greater Middle East Initiative in a G-8 meeting, the
purpose of which was “the expansion of political rights and political participation in the Muslim
world...to combat the appeal of Islamist extremism.”55 The definition of Greater Middle East
included all countries from Morocco to Pakistan. This is because the American government
realized that Pakistan, like Saudi Arabia or Egypt, allowed limited political freedom to its people
and was facing the threat of Islamist radicalization and extremism. Similarly, as far as US
foreign policy is concerned, the lines between Afghanistan and Pakistan have increasingly
blurred, due chiefly to the Taliban joint insurgency in both countries. This was apparent in the
Obama administration’s move to appoint a special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan and the
announcement of a joint strategy to deal with the problem in the two countries.56
Conclusion
Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries share many things in common. This includes
a shared history, shared religious values, and similar political institutions. At the same time there
are several things that are unique to Pakistan, or that Pakistan shares with other South Asian
countries that it does not share with Middle Eastern countries, such as race and ethnicity, and a
British colonial legacy that is more dominant in South Asia than in the Middle East.
As mentioned before, the noted anthropologist Carleton S. Coon wrote that Pakistan
belongs to the Middle East, but is also “transitional to another culture”, in this case South Asian.
If it is ethnicity and geography on which we are basing these arbitrary definitions on, then
Pakistan is indeed more South Asian than Middle Eastern. However, ‘Middle East’ is a Western
construction. The evolution of the term ‘Middle East’ suggests that the definition is based less on
history, geography or culture, and more on the recent politics of the region. It was a Westerner
who coined the term ‘Middle East’, Western governments that officially used it, and Western
54
(Schmidle, 2008)
55
(Wittes, 2004)
56
(LaFranchi, 2009)
15
media that popularized it. Therefore the West can now choose to define Pakistan to be in the
Middle East, based on political and security concerns, which, as was shown in this paper, it has.
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Coon, C. S. (2007). Caravan - The Story of Middle East. Read Books.
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Dunn, R. E. (2004). The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century.
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Is Pakistan in The Middle East

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Is Pakistan in the Middle East?

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Is Pakistan in the Middle East?

Evolution of the term ‘Middle East’

Characteristics of Middle Eastern Countries

Secondly, Middle Eastern countries should be geographically located in south-western

Cultural similarities and differences

Contemporary Pakistani culture, like Arab, Turkish or Persian culture, is primarily an

Pakistan’s Islamic ideology

Pakistan’s relations with other Middle Eastern countries

The War on Terror

The War on Terror began as an international effort to combat global terrorist

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