Book Presentation

The Duel is Ali’s assessment of how Pakistan’s history of military dictatorships and weak civilian leadership has led the country to its current state of demise. This is important to understand because the path between a secure world and global conflagration runs right through Pakistan. The country, the sixth most populous in the world and the only Islamic country with a nuclear bomb, has become crucial to the American War on Terror. However, Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S. is now very tense as more than 70% of Pakistanis fear the U.S. as a military threat to their country.

Ali examines the dangers of the failed attempt by the U.S. to influence politics and the country’s slim chances of sustained stability. He also reveals how a newly radicalized movement of lawyers is testing its strength as champions of the rule of law, which offers some promise to the nation’s future.

Writer, journalist, and filmmaker Tariq Ali was born in Lahore and educated at Oxford University. He has campaigned against wars from Vietnam to Iraq. Today, he writes regularly for a range of publications including the London Review of Books and The Guardian. He has written more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction books.

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book.  This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.