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Synopsis This book examines different aspects of our developments as a nation-state with a view to creating a better understanding pf our current affairs. It starts with an extensive chronology, providing an historical framework that highlights our rich and plural heritage as well as sign-posting critical turning points in Pakistan’s checkered history. The topics include the territorial underpinning of Pakistani nationalism, the dynamics informing the overbearing role of the key state institutions of the bureaucracy and the military, development under elected and non-elected regimes, the uneven contribution of civil society, the paradoxical record of the empowerment of women, the fettered freedom of the press and a foreign policy driven by narrowly defined security concerns with serious domestic implications. The book and as a society for engaging more effectively in the realm of governance, democracy and human rights.