This handbook examines Pakistan's 70-year history from a number of different perspectives. When Pakistan was born, it did not have a capital, a functioning government or a central bank. The country lacked a skilled workforce. While the state was in the process of being established, eight million Muslim refugees arrived from India, who had to be absorbed into a population of 24 million people. However, within 15 years, Pakistan was the fastest growing and transforming economy in the developing world, although the political evolution of the country during this period was not equally successful. Pakistan has vast agricultural and human resources, and its location promises trade, investment and other opportunities. Chapters in the volume, written by experts in the field, examine government and politics, economics, foreign policy and environmental issues, as well as social aspects of Pakistan's development, including the media, technology, gender and education. Shahid Javed Burki is an economist who has been a member of the faculty at Harvard University, USA, and Chief Economist, Planning and Development Department, Government of the Punjab. He has also served as Minister of Finance in the Government of Pakistan, and has written a number of books, and journal and newspaper articles. He joined the World Bank in 1974 as a senior economist and went on to serve in several senior positions. He was the (first) Director of the China Department (1987-94) and served as the Regional Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean during 1994-99. He is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Shahid Javed Burki Institute of Public Policy at NetSol (BIPP) in Lahore. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a career Bangladeshi diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Bangladesh (2007-08). He has a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University, Canberra. He began his career as a member of the civil service of Pakistan in 1969. Dr Chowdhury has held senior diplomatic positions in the course of his career, including as Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York (2001-07) and in Geneva (1996-2001), and was ambassador to Qatar, Chile, Peru and the Vatican. He is currently a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Asad Ejaz Butt is the Director of the Burki Institute of Public Policy, Lahore, Pakistan.

Afghanistan: The Next Phase takes an in-depth look at the present situation in Afghanistan by placing it in the context of the country's tribal culture, history, and demography. It considers its association with Pakistan, with whom it shares not only a long border, but also the Pashtuns-the largest ethnic component in its population-and the rise of extremism in many parts of the Sunni world. The country faces an uncertain future as it has yet to develop the institutional structure that could transform it into an inclusive society. This book offers analysis of what the economic future holds for Afghanistan as the United States completes the withdrawal of combat troops, when the flow of foreign capital that has helped the country is likely to be reduced significantly. The authors propose a formal association of a dozen countries to chaperone the country into the future. In the absence of such an arrangement, Afghanistan could once again become a failed state, which would have repercussions around the world.