Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy [Paperback]

Ayesha Siddiqa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2007

Pakistan has emerged as a strategic ally of the United States in the "war on terror." It is the third largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world. But how stable is Pakistan? Ayesha Siddiqa shows how the military has gradually gained control of Pakistan's political, social, and economic resources. T his power has transformed Pakistani society, where the armed forces have become an independent class.



The military is entrenched in the corporate sector and controls the country's largest companies and large tracts of real estate. So Pakistan's companies and its main assets are in the hands of a tiny minority of senior army officials. Siddiqa examines this military economy and the consequences of merging the military and corporate sectors. Does democracy have a future in the new Pakistan? Will the generals ever withdraw to the barracks. Military Inc. analyzes the internal and external dynamics of this gradual power-building and the impact that it is having on Pakistan's political and economic development.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ayesha Siddiqa's book covers a major gap in the literature on contemporary Pakistan. For many years journalists and other analysts, on the basis of anacdotal evidence, have remarked that Pakistan's military has a major interest in the economy. Military Inc. is the first serious attempt to provide some facts and figures to substantiate that claim. -- Owen Bennett Jones, Asian Affairs, March 2008 This bold book explains why it will be so difficult to persuade the Pakistani military to renounce political power and return to the barracks. It is a must read for anyone who cares about Pakistan or its future. -- Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars In examining the nature and consequences of the Pakistani military's involvement in the economy, Dr. Siddiqa shows in great detail how the economic benefits that military officers can obtain when in or close to the seat of power stimulate them to solidify their political position in order to retain and expand those economic benefits. -- Nicole Ball, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, Washington DC This book for the first time links two literatures: the comparative study of the role of the military in the politics and economics of states around the world, and the study of the role of the Pakistan army. ... As Dr. Siddiqa points out, this relationship raises profound questions about Pakistan's future. ... A must-read. -- Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings, and author of "The Pakistan Army" and "The Idea of Pakistan" A vital piece of the complex puzzle as to why the Pakistan army have become so powerful. Complex, riveting, absorbing, Siddiqa has written a vitally important book which enhances our understanding of the army on the front line in the war on terror. ... Siddiqa provides us with the first understanding of the workings of one the most secretive armies in the world -- Ahmed Rashid, Far Eastern Economic Review An incisive look at the largely hidden economic empire run by and for the benefit of Pakistan's military. This courageous book will not please Pakistan's generals. But no Pakistani, civilian or military, can afford to ignore its sobering analysis. -- Robert M. Hathaway, Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

About the Author

Ayesha Siddiqa is a military analyst with a PhD in War Studies from King's College, London. She contributes regularly to Jane's Defence Weekly. She was the 'Pakistan Scholar' at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars at Washington, DC for 2004-05.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (May 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745325459
• ISBN-13: 978-0745325453
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #486,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > History > Asia > Pakistan

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Daring but substantive June 20, 2007

By Saleem Ali

Format:Paperback

Writing about the military in Pakistan can be risky business and the author of this book has shown tremendous courage in publishing this important work. However, the merit of this book is not because it is daring but rather because of the intellectual rigor and empirical detail provided. Unlike anti-establishment provocateurs who can often claim courage of conviction but not much else, Dr. Siddiqa has provided us with a well-substantiated account of financial hegemony in the military that deserves applause. While recognizing the vital importance of the military itself, the book unravels how essential security can be easily manipulated to accumulate wealth for a powerful elite.

The author starts with a structural premise that defines the phenomenon of "milbus" as "military capital used for the personal benefit of the military fraternity, especially the officer cadre, which is not recorded as part of the defence budget." She then goes on to situate this concept within the larger literature on the military industrial complex. Her lucid prose is also augmented by clear, tables, organizational charts, graphs and Venn diagrams. Her findings are staggering: for example, the amount of land owned by military officers through subsidized schemes amounts to $4.6 billion. The military pensions being offered are five times the amount for civilian officers. The role of the Fauji Foundation and other military organizations in running commercial enterprises that range from cereal manufacturing to running schools is astounding.

The usual argument given by proponents of milbus is that the military is the most disciplined organization and can do everything more efficiently.... Yet, this logic is defied by most of the world's leading economic powers where development has occurred through private enterprise by educated and responsible citizens. Perhaps the author could have spent more time in evaluating these arguments. Nevertheless, given the range and scope of the matter at hand, Dr. Siddiqa has done a marvelous job with this manuscript. One can only hope the military will not feel threatened by this constructive criticism and use the the book as a means for initiating reform. Read more ›

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Military Business Exposed May 27, 2007

By Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani

Format:Paperback

The book is not only first of its kind on the secrets of Military Economics in Pakistan, it also contains the lessons a nation should learn on the limits of military engagements in civil insitutions.

Well written, and a brave effort.

5 stars

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Effort May 31, 2007

By A. Tariq

Format:Paperback

Hinderance in releasing this book in Pakistan is a clear indication of the authenticity of this book. Lessons to be learned.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Information revealing Not shocking--Visionary None August 21, 2011

By Farrukh

Format:Paperback

This book should be very informative to outsiders. Dr. Siddiqa has done good research work to gather facts (numbers), an effort not easy in that country. Her research is very narrow, focused largely on Milbus and the data around it, which is good, but seems either the learned doctor is not an astute student of the history of Pakistan Vis-avis Army and its polity or she turned biased and has misinformed her audience. I believe the content is truthful when it comes to numbers and the Army's various organizations out to make a buck--quite right, but NOT factual in terms of its history--for example chapter 10. Dr. Siddiqa stops short of giving opinion of other authors who have written extensively on subjects that she is addressing and is equally a valid claim. The author fails at time not telling the other side of the coin. I find her not being objective. Please see the following example.

In chapter 10 she says, "The Pakistan military's economic interests are the result of the defence establishment's political clout..........in 1950s, the military gradually encroached into politics..." is not truthful based on overwhelming data by other authors. In 1949 the military had no political clout--today they do. Pakistan was created on the basis of democracy and this relatively new democracy exercised greater power and clout than the new army of that day. A fact nicely narrated by an author, Brig. M. Hamid-Ud-Din, in his book, "Looking Back" and reader can be the judge of authenticity of that information. History shows that army was treated with disrespect by civil servants. They would not attend to them when they visited their offices. The list is rather lengthy. The morale of the army was low and it could not have done much regarding India that the author alludes to.... After many years, this forced them to exercise their brute power, a brute power which the new democracy never had and their unjustified coup de ta was uncovered. That event made the new democracy think and gave the army basic privileges such as discount on fare tickets etc and the like. The military never encroached into politics then. It was Pakistan's great leader, Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan, who approached X-Gen.Akbar. Military was dragged into the mess, again read the above referenced book and a book written by X-Gen. Akbar. For a while now the army is committing acts of "Milbus", but it is first due to the incompetence of polity right at the start of independence after Quaid-e-Azam's death and later came other factors.

It is an exercise of either Dr. Siddiqa got exhausted or she ran out of facts and could not find any more dirty laundry and ended the book. It is all of that, but NOT constructive. Pakistan needs a visionary and an analytical writer to get that country out of the center of paralysis.

Indeed, a courageous step Dr. Siddiqa took--from bright minds, which I believe she is, one should expect to provide the under pining of why Pakistan Army is involved in "Milbus" and its fix. A chapter or two to that end would have been an absorbing read and the book would have served well--her country. I gave it three stars because it is an academic exercise with data that Dr. Siddiqa was not able to put to good use. Sadly, the author ends her research at that. Four chapters of that would have been fine, it would have given a reader the same compelling message that she tries in some nine chapters, a fact well know inside Pakistan.

I would like this author to give us her second take, what are the causes and what is needed. With an objective approach, I am sure she will make new friends at Military, Inc.!!! Read more ›

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Why you should buy Military Inc. January 27, 2008

By Raymond Turney

Format:Paperback

I bought this book because Pakistan has recently been in the news, and sad to say will probably be in the news again. Since the author received death threats when the book was published and wisely left Pakistan, it seemed that she had earned my support, and also that the book had hit a nerve.

The background for the book is the theory, originating among US academics, that the military is the most modern institution in developing societies, and that a politically strong military will therefore develop a country. This view is associated with Morris Janowitz and Samuel Huntington. Being Pakistani, Ayesha Siddiqa has noticed that their theory has not worked. She explains why in this book.

The book covers: the theoretical concept of Milbus, which she introduces; the Pakistani military; the political history of Pakistani; the four foundations that run the major investments of the Pakistani military; diversion of state land to private purposes in the interest of senior military officers; the cost of Milbus; and some speculations about its likely impact on the future of Pakistan. These appear sound to a non-expert on the Pakistan army.

If asked to state her general thesis, I would use a metaphor that she does not, and say that the suggestion that the military can develop a developing country in effect casts it in the role of a Marxist vanguard party. It has some advantages in this role, notably including greater administrative competence than a Marxist vanguard party usually has. But it lacks a concept of the revolutionary transformation of society, and it has a entirely different mission from social development, which is national defense. It is subject to the same tendency to corruption as a Marxist vanguard party.... So the military can develop society to a certain extent, but does so in the interest of military officers, who become a class in the Marxist sense themselves. Corruption, diversion of public resources to private purposes, etc, which are a big issue with Marxist vanguard parties in power, are also serious problems with military led development. The author claims, and makes a fairly good case to support her claim, that the economic interests of the military both increase its political power, and give it an incentive to expand its political power rather than "returning to barracks".

It is not clear how large a portion of Pakistan's economy the military controls, but a few figures she offers near the end suggest that it is anywhere from 3-10%.

This book is an academic sociological work, not a call to action. It adheres to the conventions of academic work, meaning that it has a lot of jargon and is fairly difficult to read. It also addresses a specific problem, not just the military but military involvement in business. Pakistan has enough other problems that this should not be used as an introduction to the sociology of Pakistan.

That said, I hope she sells a lot of copies.

In the US we're relying on the Pakistani army, so we should know something about its downsides, and why many Pakistanis are not wild about it. The fact that the Pakistani army is arguably not really a national institution, because its personnel are recruited almost exclusively from the Punjab and the NW Frontier, has interesting implications.

In short, I agree with Lee Hamilton and Ahmed Rashid, who recommend the book. Read more ›