International Crisis Group

The International Crisis Group (ICG) is a private organization of field researchers and scholars that provides analyses on issues related to international crisis management. In the following viewpoint, members of ICG assess the actions of Pakistan’s government, and its leader, Pervez Musharraf. They argue that conventional wisdom about Pakistan—that it is a fragile state that could fall under the control of Islamic extremists, that Musharraf has taken a courageous stand against these extremists, and that the international community should support him—does not bear close scrutiny. They contend that Islamic fundamentalism actually has little popular support among Pakistan’s people and that Pakistan’s military establishment uses the threat of militant Islam to justify its size and actions. Pakistan’s future...