Courtesy of Ben Morrow and the rest of the people who attended the first MDU master-class in foreign policy organised and run by him. This document is the result of their finding from that session.
MDU FP+IR Master Sessions:
Crib Sheet I.i: Pakistan
Full name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Leadership:
President: Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 which was widely
condemned and which led to Pakistan's suspension from the Commonwealth until 2004.
His military career began in 1964 and included spells of training in the UK. He became head of military operations when Ms Bhutto was prime minister, and then head of the army in 1998.
He shook off his pariah status and gained foreign acceptance after he backed the US-led campaign against terror following the attacks on America on 11 September 2001
In 2002 General Musharraf awarded himself another five years as president, together with the power to dismiss an elected parliament. The handover from military to civilian rule came with parliamentary elections in November 2002, and the appointment of a civilian prime minister.
He held onto his military role, reneging on a promise to give up his army post and to
become a civilian president. In October 2007 he won the support of most parliamentarians in controversial presidential elections. However, the Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the winner could not be formally announced before it had ruled on whether General Musharraf was eligible to stand.
Comparative Population:
Population: 161.1 million (UN, 2005) Half the size of the USA
India is 1.1 billion (UN, 2005) (10x The size!)
Geographical Notes:
Largest city: Karachi Area: 796,095 sq km (307,374 sq miles), excluding
Pakistani-administered Kashmir (83,716 sq km/32,323 sq miles)
Important Regions:
Kashmir:
Tensions with India over Kashmir remain and have fuelled fears of a regional arms race. However, an ongoing peace process has brought the two nuclear-armed powers back from the brink of renewed conflict.
Historical Notes:
Created to meet the demands of Indian Muslims for their own homeland, Pakistan was originally in two parts. The east wing - present-day Bangladesh - is on the Bay of Bengal bordering India and Burma and the west wing - present-day Pakistan - stretches from the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea.
War with India over the disputed northern territory of Kashmir came shortly after
independence - the two countries fought again in 1965. The break-up of the two wings came in 1971 when the mainly Bengali-speaking east wing seceded with help from India.
Important Cultural Notes:
Civilian politics in Pakistan in the last few decades has been tarnished by corruption,
inefficiency and confrontations between various institutions. Alternating periods of civilian and military rule have not helped to establish stability.
Religious Context:
Major religion: Islam
About 97 percent of all Pakistanis are Muslims. Official documentation states that Sunni Muslims constitute 77 percent of the population and that adherents of Shia Islam make up an additional 20 percent. Christians, Hindus, and members of other religions each account for about 1 percent of the population.
International Relationships Notes:
Nuclear Power, gained nuclear weapons in [_____], particularly considering the value of nuclear weapons in relation to India.
Economic Details:
Monetary unit: 1 Pakistani Rupee = 100 paisa
Main exports: Textile products, rice, cotton, leather goods
GNI per capita: US $690 (World Bank, 2006)
Recent Items of note:
## Recent Elections Controversy resulting in the death of Benazir Bhutto.
Crib Sheet I.ii: India
Leadership:
President: Pratibha Patil
Pratibha Patil became India's first female president in July 2007, after being voted into office by members of state assemblies and the national parliament. Mrs Patil, the candidate of the ruling Congress Party, was previously the little-known governor of the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan. She drew criticism during the campaign over scandals involving family members, and over controversial remarks.
Supporters hailed her election as a victory for women, but critics wondered how much influence she would have.
Prime minister: Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh became prime minister in May 2004 after the Congress Party's unexpected success in general elections. The party's president, Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, shocked her supporters by declining the top post, apparently to protect the party from damaging attacks over her Italian origin.
Comparative Population:
India is 1.1 billion (UN, 2005) Just Smaller than China (around 1.3bn)
Geographical Notes:
Most-populated city: Mumbai (Bombay)
Area: 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq miles), excluding Indian-administered Kashmir
(100,569 sq km/38,830 sq miles)
Historical Notes:
The vast and diverse Indian sub-continent - from the mountainous Afghan frontier to the jungles of Burma - was under foreign rule from the early 1800s until the demise of the British Raj in 1947. But the subsequent partition of the sub-continent sowed the seeds for future conflict. There have been three wars between India and its arch-rival Pakistan since 1947, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Important Cultural Notes:
India launches its own satellites and plans to send a spacecraft to the moon. It also boasts a massive cinema industry, the products of which are among the most widely-watched films in the world. But the vast mass of the rural population remains illiterate and impoverished. Their lives continue to be dominated by the ancient Hindu caste system, which assigns each person a fixed place in the social hierarchy.
Religious Context:
The vast majority, about 80%, of the Indian population is Hindu. The second most popular religion in India is Islam. Other popular Indian religions include Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Janism, and Zoroastrianism. Communal, caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular ethos.
Economic Details:
Monetary unit: 1 Indian Rupee = 100 paise
Main exports: Agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewellery, software services
and technology, engineering goods, chemicals, leather products
GNI per capita: US $720 (World Bank, 2006)
Political Details:
The world's largest democracy and second most populous country has emerged as a major power after a period of foreign rule and several decades during which its economy was virtually closed. A nuclear weapons state, it carried out tests in the 1970s and again in the 1990s in defiance of world opinion. However, India is still tackling huge social, economic and environmental problems. A peace process, which started in 2004, has stayed on track despite tension over Kashmir and several high-profile bombings, such as the attack on Mumbai's train network in July 2006 which police blamed on Pakistani militants and a banned Indian group.
Recent Items of note:
Secret Service details
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