Set to become the world's fourth most populous nation, Pakistan is all of several things: a client state of the United States yet deeply resentful of it; a breeding ground for jihad and al Qaeda as well as a key US ally in the fight against international terrorism; an economy and society run for the benefit of Pakistan's warrior class, yet with a relatively free and feisty press; a country where education and science refuse to flourish but which is nevertheless a declared nuclear power; and an inward-looking society that is manifestly intolerant of minorities but that has never seen anything like the state-organized pogroms of India, Afghanistan, Iran, or China. Radical Islam went into overdrive as its superpower ally, the United States, funneled support to the mujahideen. Ronald Reagan feted jihadist leaders on the White House lawn, and the US press lionized them. By the mid-1990s, it was clear that the victorious alliance had unleashed a dynamic beyond its control. I propose a corollary to the Pottery Barn rule, which I'll dub the Easy Bake rule: you bake it, you eat it. Can Pakistan Work? | 
