Supporting Pakistan’s Democratic Machinery

This is a joint post with Daniel Cutherell.It’s not a stretch to say that United States-Pakistan relations are at a low point. Indeed, it seems just when Washington and Islamabad think bilateral relations cannot get any worse, they inevitably do.  The latest fallout stems from the accidental NATO bombing in November 2011 of Pakistani military outposts, resulting in the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.  Pakistan immediately shut down critical NATO supply routes and the negotiations to re-open them have gone nowhere.  To add insult to injury, Pakistan faces a slew of minor crises on its home front, relating to the economy, politics, and of course, security.  In Washington, support for civilian assistance to Pakistan is rapidly waning.With this as background, the United States is also undergoing two major personnel transitions in Islamabad.  U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter and USAID Mission Director Andrew Sisson have both announced their intention to step down this summer.   This staff turnover, while a distraction in the short run, also provides an opportunity for the United States to re-brand its civilian assistance program in Pakistan. Our latest open letter to Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides urges the United States to support Pakistan’s “democratic machinery” with more USAID innovation, stronger Pakistani think tanks and research groups, and more independent media.In our 2011 CGD study group report on the U.S. development strategy in Pakistan, we highlighted Pakistan’s vibrant civil society, burgeoning philanthropic sector and reputed institutions of higher learning as bright spots in an otherwise gloomy picture, but ones that the United States has not done enough to tap. We’ll have a follow-up report soon on the overall U.S. development approach in Pakistan, but there are three specific actions outlined in the open letter that the U.S. government can take now to strengthen its investments in Pakistan’s civil society and democratic machinery:1.    Create a mechanism to support and scale up innovative Pakistani development initiatives.  One of USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah’s priorities since he has taken the helm at the agency is to emphasize and integrate principles of “innovation” into the USAID bureaucracy.  To date, the Pakistan country program seems oddly divorced from this spirit of innovation and notable initiatives emerging out of USAID’s Office of Innovation and Development Alliances (IDEA).  We recommend that USAID-Pakistan create a special window that invites innovation and experimentation from local Pakistani partners.2.    Support independent Pakistani think tanks and research organizations.  A second prong in a new civil society strategy is for USAID to make a substantial investment in Pakistani think tanks and research institutes.  As we have emphasized previously, solutions to Pakistan’s development problems will only succeed when they come from Pakistanis.  To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the United States could join an existing donor consortium that finances think tanks across the globe, expanding the group’s work in Pakistan.3.    Support the professionalization of independent media and journalism.  The rapid expansion of Pakistan’s media sector represents another bright spot in Pakistan’s non-governmental picture.  Despite these gains, the media industry is frequently accused of sloppy journalism, unethical practice and sensationalism.  As with research organizations, the United States should not get in the business of funding media organizations directly.  However, the United States could indirectly support organizations that promote increased professionalization of the media community and/or facilitate professional and academic linkages between American and Pakistani universities to create local schools of journalism.We believe these are commonsense ideas that would not cost much but could pay dividends in the medium to long term.  They could also play a role in re-branding U.S. assistance, away from the current top-down approach and toward bottom-up initiatives with an emphasis on sustainability.  USAID needs to acknowledge it is in the middle of an aid ramp-up that will not last forever—and, indeed, may end sooner than it desires if some in Congress have their way.