Ac know ledg ments

This book started out as a project at Columbia University and was completed at Harvard University. Th en, as now, Alfred Stepan has been a constant source of warm encouragement and invaluable advice. Jack Snyder and Sheri Berman have been most generous with their time, support, and feedback.

I am particularly grateful to Stephen P. Cohen for sharing his intimate knowledge of Pakistan and its army over the years, even though we sometimes disagreed about the nature and limits of military interventions in politics. He also diligently read the entire manuscript and provided detailed comments. Christophe Jaff relot was also kind enough to read the manuscript, raise provocative questions, and off er many useful suggestions. My wife, Bushra Asif, read several drafts in full and often off ered trenchant criticism in the politest way possible. For that, and for her unwavering aff ection and support, especially during frustrating moments in the pro cess of writing, I am forever thankful. Samina Ahmed, Zoltan Barany, Larry Diamond, J. Samuel Fitch, and Arun Swamy read individual or multiple chapters and with their vast knowledge of both theory and actual countries provided insightful comments. For comments on earlier versions of chapters and papers derived from the book, I want to thank participants at Comparative Politics and other seminars at Columbia, the University of Chicago, Harvard, and Stanford, as well as Timothy Frye, Sumit Ganguly, Andrew Nathan, Philip Oldenburg, Peter Purdue, and Vickie Langohr. I must also acknowledge the assistance and guidance of many serving and retired military offi cers in Pakistan, without which this book would not have been possible. Some of my interviewees were not comfortable signing a release form given the sensitive nature of the topic. All interviewees consented verbally to

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being interviewed for publication and knew that their words might be reproduced in print. Some of the interviewees wished to remain anonymous; in such cases, I have not used their names. Portions of Chapter 7 appeared in “Constraining Consolidation: Military Politics and Democracy in Pakistan,” Demo cratization, April 29, 2013, and are reprinted here courtesy of Taylor & Francis (www.tandfonline.com).

At the National Documentation Center in Islamabad, the director, Saleemullah Khan, was very helpful and facilitated archival research by cutting proverbial red tape. Staff at the British Army Museum in London and the Nehru Memorial Museum Library in New Delhi were quick to respond and provide materials. I am also grateful to Hamza Khan, Amel Zahid, Rushna Shahid, and Umair Rasheed for their excellent research assistance. A very warm thank- you to my older brother Aimal Shah, who was always on hand to help acquire information and materials from Pakistan, often at short notice. I must also express my gratitude to my family, especially my mother, Mumtaz Begum, and Bushra’s parents, Drs. Muhammad and Farida Asif, for their support and hospitality during our several trips to Pakistan. Last, and defi nitely not least, my son Sahir Shah was an inimitable source of much- needed distraction and joy. In his infi nite toddler wisdom, he would often tell me, “Don’t worry, baba [father in Urdu/Pashtu], your book will be awesome.”

Th e Harvard University William F. Milton Fund provided funding for additional fi eld research in Pakistan. At Harvard University Press, Kathleen McDermott’s unfl inching support, patience, and guidance helped me see the project through to the end. Katherine Brick was most helpful with her rapid- fi re editorial feedback on several chapters at the tail end of the project. I am also grateful to Brian Ostrander and Barbara Good house at Westchester Publishing Ser vices for their assistance and per sis tence in keeping the production of the book on track. Finally, I owe special gratitude to the Harvard Society of Fellows, particularly its se nior fellows Amartya Sen and Nur Yalman, for an intellectually stimulating environment and generous fi nancial support while I tried to convert my manuscript into a book useful to both scholars and informed general readers. If I have not succeeded in that endeavor, the fault is solely mine.

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