Seeing Pakistan through Flood Crisis

Lisa Curtis / August 13, 2010

Pakistan is facing what may turn out to be its worst natural catastrophe ever. The U.S. must focus on providing maximum relief assistance over the coming weeks and plan to partner with Pakistan in leading an international effort to rehabilitate and reconstruct the flood-affected areas over the longer term. A robust U.S. response to the flood disaster would help shore up U.S.-Pakistan relations and maintain stability in a crisis-prone country vulnerable to the influence of anti-U.S. extremist groups.

In addition to the floods, Pakistan has been wracked in recent weeks by ethnic/political violence in Karachi that claimed over 80 lives, a high profile suicide attack that killed a senior Pakistani military official in Peshawar, and its worst plane crash in history in the capital city of Islamabad. As U.S. Senior Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said on Thursday, “Pakistan faces an unbelievable combination of problems…I know no other country that faces more challenges.” (more…)