Since his return to his home country of Pakistan, twice former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been climbing the political ladder and positioning himself to regain a prominent spot in Pakistani politics. Barack Obama must make an important decision on how to deal with Sharif. The New York Times poses the question as a preview to this article:
The Obama administration must decide whether Nawaz Sharif, the former Pakistani prime minister, is likely to be a reliable ally or an obstructionist force.
Count on it being the latter. Sharif will only be an ally to America as long as it's politically expedient for him. Given the anti-American backlash building in Pakistan over US airstrikes in the Western provinces, I wouldn't count on Sharif to be of any help, especially considering that he has touted anti-American sentiments in the past for political gain. About.com puts it well:
Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif likes to keep friends and enemies off-balance, mixing reactionary social conservatism with economic liberalism and populist anti-Americanism while occasionally doing American foreign policy's bidding.
In my opinion Pakistan is the biggest danger to global security. And there's no major political figure in Pakistan the international community can trust. Benazir Bhutto was our best chance and look what happened to her.
Pakistan's erratic government is largely beholden to the military, which has been found on numerous occasions to consist of radical elements. What makes this frightening is that Pakistan is a nuclear power. The situations in Iraq and Afghanistan are delicate, but neither of the two pose anywhere near the danger to the global community as Pakistan.
The Pakistani military often operates independently of the government, as evident when President Zardari ordered intelligence chiefs to cooperate with India after the Mumbai bombings and was refused and humiliated. There's a reason Pakistan has been run by military dictators for most of its existence. President Zardari is only in control to the extent that the military approves of his actions.
From the perspective of the countries concerned with what goes on in Pakistan -- the United States, much of Europe and India -- isolation isn't much of an option because Pakistan is increasingly becoming a hotbed for terrorist recruitment and training.
The best tool at the disposal of the international community to keep the country under control is US aid. The Pakistani government depends heavily on it and it can and should be used as leverage when necessary. Hillary Clinton recently used this tactic successfully to quell the shenanigans over the shady firing of a chief justice. Keep at it, Madam Secretary.