Publication

This paper examines the challenges faced by a proposed police-based counter-insurgency strategy for Pakistan by placing them in the context of the limitations faced by the police. A brief account of colonial mechanisms of governance and their effects on policing is provided, to highlight the path dependencies created by British indirect rule and divide-and-rule for modern Pakistan. Ignorance of the history of policing and of the political struggle over police control has led foreign donors to support attempts at centralizing security governance, worsening the state’s crisis of legitimacy and arguably heightening insecurity.