a brief introduction.

When democracy is concerned, the United States of America and Pakistan have been both polar opposites and kindred spirits. Despite four periods of martial law staining Pakistan's history as a republic, the two states share a common history of keeping the voting power in the hands of the elite.

For most of American history, voting has been a privilege of the wealthy, educated elite. Since its creation in 1776, the framers of the Constitution took careful measures to keep power out of the hands of the masses. Voting was a privilege that only white, property-owning males could enjoy. Even with the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, prohibiting states to deny citizens the right to vote based on their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" in 1870, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and poll taxes hindered the chances of African American and poverty-stricken white males to make their voices heard through voting. It wasn't until 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, an act banning all such obstacles, that voting became the right of the common man. The masses of Pakistan too have been denied the right to vote and a say in the Republic created for them in 1947 for decades. For too long, their voices had been supressed by unstable regimes and military dictatorships.

However, on September 8, 2008, a democratically elected leader of Pakistan was sworn in. Asif Ali Zardari was elected by the people to become the 11th President of Pakistan, becoming their representative as Head of State. As the middle of his five-year term approaches, the world's eyes are on Islamabad to see whether or not Zardari can become the first democratically elected Pakistani president to finish an entire term. Should this feat occur, it will go down as a milestone in Pakistani history and a huge step towards democracy and the power of the people to decide their laws and policies.

What this blog is going to be about is Pakistan and the United States— their policies, their politics, their people, and most importantly, how the two countries, although worlds apart, collide to form one of the most turbulent and mutually beneficial alliances of modern times.

Pakistan in Numbers

63 years of existence.
Population of 166,111,487.
6th most populated in the world.
Literacy rate of 55%
Four coups later...