President Pervez Musharraf’s Vision for Pakistan

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf shared his vision for the future of his country at Washington, DC’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Feb. 12.

Musharraf began by contemplating Pakistan’s past. During the Cold War, he said, the U.S.-Pakistani alliance was key to containing communism. “Together we expelled the Russians from Afghanistan and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he said.

Thereafter, however, he continued, tensions over nuclear weapons development, Pakistan’s domestic politics, and competing interests in Afghanistan strained the U.S.-Pakistani relationship. Furthermore, Musharraf said, Islamabad’s involvement with the Taliban—both in aiding their rise to power and being one of three countries to recognize the regime—was frowned upon by the U.S.

The events of Sept. 11 occasioned a re-evaluation of U.S. relationships around the globe, the president noted. New friendships were forged and new enemies made, he told the audience, as the U.S. forced much of the world to decide, “Are you with us or against us?”

The U.S.-Pakistani relationship became one of the most important bilateral relationships strategically, he said. Although seemingly at odds with the U.S. due to its support of the Taliban, Musharraf said, Pakistan proved instead to be one of the U.S.’s greatest friends.

Islamabad, he explained, severed relations with the Taliban, granted the U.S. access to Pakistani airspace, arrested al-Qaeda members, and cracked down on extremist groups in Pakistan and Kashmir. These steps, Musharraf said, were part of Pakistan’s pledge “to make a progressive, dynamic and modern Islamic nation”—which is Musharraf’s vision of Pakistan’s future.

Musharraf claimed his vision already is reality, and that the difference between present and future is only a matter of degree. Those who do not see Pakistan as a progressive Islamic nation, he said, suffer from misperception. The idea that Pakistan’s government is bound by its religion is a misperception, he stated. While there is a strong religious undercurrent in the country, Musharraf said, never in the history of Pakistan has any religious party won more than 5 percent of the votes. Pakistan is politically secular, he emphasized, and the perception that Pakistanis are religious extremists is an inaccurate one. “We are religious, certainly, but we are not extremists,” Musharraf said. “Proof of this is my response to terrorism, a response welcomed by the masses.”

As a nation, its president said, Pakistan stands against religious extremism.

While Musharraf described Pakistan as a progressive and moderate Islamic nation in its present state, he recognized that today’s turbulent times could yield adverse affects. As Muslims are called to defend their faith in a perceived war against Islam, he said, the small number of religious extremists in Pakistan could potentially increase. Well aware of this danger, Musharraf spoke of “a need to curb religious fanaticism, extremism and sectarian violence.”

Steps have been taken, he said, including banning a number of religious organizations and parties. Musharraf enumerated additional steps, such as reforming madrassas so as to include subjects that will help bring students of Islam into mainstream culture. He said his government also intends to issue instructions aimed at controlling activities in mosques so that they are not misused for non-religious activities. “All these actions have been welcomed by the general public,” Musharraf said.

In retrospect, he observed, the events of Sept. 11 catalyzed Pakistan toward Musharraf’s vision of the future. Pakistanis could have risen against Musharraf in opposition to the U.S. war on terrorism waged against religious extremists, he noted. Instead, according to Musharraf, they put their faith in his political maneuvering and welcomed his decisions.

Reaping the benefits of cooperation, he said, Pakistan now receives U.S. support, both diplomatic and financial, making Musharraf’s reforms easier to implement. Pakistan is moving steadily toward its future as a progressive, dynamic and modern Islamic nation, Musharraf concluded, and one can only hope that the pace of change does not undermine the changes themselves.

—Kristel Halter

Reza Pahlavi: A New/Old Approach to Iran

Reza Pahlavi no longer uses “Shah” as his title. Regarding his future, the son of the late shah of Iran told an audience of retired foreign service officers on Feb. 20 that he would leave that up to the people of Iran. “I don’t care if the referendum on Iran’s future results in a republic or constitutional monarchy. It is simply important that believers in secular democracy come together to achieve that goal,” Pahlavi said. “I certainly have the right to return to Iran, since I am a citizen. But I leave it up to the people what my role might be,” he said in answer to a question from the audience.

Reza Pahlavi, who now runs the Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy, says that the only policy he is espousing is that secular Iranians should all come together and work to expand freedom and Western-style democracy in Iran. This broad secular-democratic agenda, which remains undetailed except for its liberal outlook, makes it possible for many different players and groups to fall under its umbrella. During the past 20 years, Reza Pahlavi has changed from a seeker of the restoration of Iran’s throne to a conciliator among the many disparate Iranian groups in exile.

Amazingly, Pahlavi maintains frequent telephone contact with Iran and has even appeared on a Voice of America call-in show in which many listeners from Isfahan and other places in Iran complain about what is happening under President Muhammad Khatami and the Ayatollahs. Members of the radio audience ask Pahlavi to send them his materials, which call for Iranians to work against the government but stop short of endorsing an armed revolution.

Does Reza Pahlavi figure in Bush administration calculations about what to do with Iran being part of the “axis of evil,” while remaining a key ally for a new Afghanistan?

Pahlavi, who now lives in the Washington, DC suburb of Bethesda, MD, frequently speaks around the country and has published articles in the Wall Street Journal and the New Republic, among other media outlets. All this should make him as much a player in Iran as King Zahir Shah is in Afghanistan—even more so because he claims to have a workable network already inside the country.

Reza Pahlavi believes there has been more rhetoric rather than reform under President Khatami. He is appealing for a quiet revolution, but this is hard to conceive of in present-day Iran, where the security services and the army remain under the tight control of the Ayatollahs.

Is it possible that, 25 years after his father’s fall from power, Reza Pahlavi actually could become the Ayatollah Khomeini of a new secular revolution in Iran? Bush administration experts on Iran clearly are divided. “We have been in discussions with the Iranians at a variety of levels and in some new ways since Sept. 11,” said Colin Powell after shaking hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi. Iranian specialists see Reza Pahlavi as still an outside player, but a potential rallying point for a new and more secular Iranian state. Other specialists and retired foreign service officers see him as lacking the ability to be more than a gadfly against the religious regime in Tehran. Still, no one is ruling out the now-almost-middle-aged Pahlavi as a possible player in the secular versus religious struggle going on in Iran.

Pahlavi told the standing-room-only crowd of foreign service officers, “My recommendation to Western policymakers, including President Bush, is to refrain from any military confrontation against my homeland, Iran...Any such act would only strengthen the brutal grip of the radical elements of the regime and depress the budding, yet vigorous, popular opposition against the ruling clerics.”

Like previous U.S. administrations, however, the present one has given Reza Pahlavi no real official recognition, declining to meet with him. Pahlavi has met with House Speaker Dennis Hastert and also with Israeli officials on at least one occasion. He appears to be working primarily to spread his gospel of secularism among both Americans interested in Iran and inside Iran itself without formal U.S. government support. Undoubtedly, Reza Pahlavi is being watched and evaluated in the foreign affairs “back channel.”

—Eugene Bird