Pakistan and American Diplomacy: Insights from 9/11 to the Afghanistan Endgame

Pakistan and American Diplomacy offers an insightful, fast-moving tour through Pakistan-U.S. relations, from 9/11 to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, as told from the perspective of a former U.S. diplomat who served twice in Pakistan. Ted Craig frames his narrative around the 2019 Cricket World Cup, a contest that saw Pakistan square off against key neighbors and cricketing powers Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh, and its former colonial ruler, Britain. Craig provides perceptive analysis of Pakistan’s diplomacy since its independence in 1947, shedding light on the country’s contemporary relations with the United States, China, India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. With insights from the field and from Washington, Craig reflects on the chain of policy decisions that led to the fall of the Kabul government in 2021 and offers a sober and balanced view of the consequences of that policy failure. Drawing on his post–Cold War diplomatic career, Craig presents U.S.-Pakistan policy in the context of an American experiment in promoting democracy while combating terrorism. Cover Page Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Maps Preface Prologue Part 1. Preparing the Pitch 1. Pakistan’s Elections and American Democracy Promotion 2. On Cricket, Pakistan’s National Pastime 3. China and America in Pakistan Part 2. Pakistan and the Cricketing World 4. Decolonizing a Sport 5. Britain’s Imperial Legacy in Pakistan 6. The Challenges of Insurgencies and Terrorism 7. Hostage Diplomacy 8. A Dogfight over Kashmir 9. Lessons in Democracy Promotion from Southern Africa 10. New Zealand as the Best of the West 11. American and Pakistani Misadventures in the Great Game 12. An Embarrassing Economic Divergence Part 3. Over the Horizon 13. The World Cup Final 14. The Perils of Legislating Blasphemy 15. U.S.-Pakistan Relations in a New South Asia Notes Index Through the lens of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, former senior U.S. embassy official Ted Craig offers an insightful, fast-moving tour through U.S.-Pakistan relations, from 9/11 to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.