Skip to main content

Allah, America, and the Army: U.S. Involvement in South Asia and Pakistan’s Education Policy

  • Chapter

Abstract

Shahzada, the eunuch character in Jamil Dehlavi’s 1992 film The Immaculate Conception, describes the survival of Pakistan to be dependent on three factors; Allah, America, and the army. It has since become widely believed that politics and policy making in Pakistan is indeed to a large extent affected by these three elements. In this paper I explore the impact of the collusion of these factors on the educational policy in Pakistan. Specifically, I explore the impact that the U.S. involvement in South and South-Central Asia has had on the way education in Pakistan has been shaped by the U.S. involvement and conversely how changes in Pakistan’s education affect the U.S. geostrategic interests in the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • Ahmad, Muneer, “Education” in Pakistan in Perspective 1947–1997, ed. Rafi Raza, 238–275. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aziz, Khursheed Kamal. The Murder of History: A Critique of History Textbooks Used in Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, Lisa. “U.S. Aid to Pakistan: Counting Extremism through Education Reform.” Heritage Lectures, no. 1029 (2007), available at: http://heritage.org/research/asiaandthepacific/hil1029.cfm (accessed January 15, 2009).

  • Gardezi, Hassan and Jamil Rashid, eds. Pakistan, the Roots of Dictatorship: The Political Economy of a Praetorian State. London: Zed Press, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, Fred. The Making of the Second Cold War. London: Verso, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain, Zahid. Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam. New Delhi: Penguin/Viking, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Nighat Said and Afiya Sherbhano Zia. Unveiling the Issues: Pakistani Women’s Perspectives on Social, Political and Ideological Issues. Transcribed and Trans. Naureen Amjad and Rubina Saigol. Lahore, Pakistan: ASR Publications, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik, Jamal. Colonization of Islam: Dissolution of Traditional Institutions in Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musharraf, Pervez. In the Line of Fire: A Memoir. London: Simon and Schuster, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naseem, M. Ayaz. Pak-Soviet relations: 1947–1965. Lahore, Pakistan: Progressive Publishers, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naseem, M. Ayaz. “The Soldier and the Seductress: A Post-structuralist Analysis of Gendered Citizenship through Inclusion in and Exclusion from Language and Social Studies Textbooks in Pakistan.” International Journal of Inclusive Education 10, nos. 4–5 (2006): 449–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naseem, M. Ayaz. “Deconstructing Militaristic Identities in Language and Social Studies Textbooks in South Asia: The Case of Pakistan,” in Caught in the Web or Lost in the Textbook? Ed. Éric Bruillard, Bente Aamotsbakken, Susanne V. Knudsen and Mike Horsley. Paris: Jouve, STEF, IARTEM, IUFM de Basse-Normandie, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naseem, M. Ayaz and Adeela Arshad-Ayaz. “The Market, the Nation and the School: EFA in times of Globalization and Nationalism,” in Education for All: Global Promises, National Challenges, ed. Alexander Wiseman and David Baker, 73–108. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, Ltd., 2007.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Noman, Omar. Pakistan: A Political and Economic History Since 1947. London: Kegan Paul International, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman Tariq. Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, Ahmed. Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, March 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rousse, Shahnaz. “Gender(ed) Struggles: The State, Religion and Society,” in Against all odds: Essays on Women, Religion and Development from India and Pakistan, ed. Kamla Bhasin, Ritu Menon, and Nighat Said Khan, 16–34. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waseem, Mohammad. Politics and the State in Pakistan. 2nd ed. Islamabad: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Noah W. Sobe

Copyright information

© 2009 Noah W. Sobe

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Naseem, M.A. (2009). Allah, America, and the Army: U.S. Involvement in South Asia and Pakistan’s Education Policy. In: Sobe, N.W. (eds) American Post-Conflict Educational Reform. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101456_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics