Cohen and Barton: Alternatives to Musharraf

Today Craig Cohen and Rick Barton of CSIS argue, in a Washington Post op-ed, that alternatives to Musharraf exist, and "the United States must put itself on the side of the Pakistani people before it finds itself overtaken by events":

Pakistan’s four provinces are larger in population and size than many European countries. Rather than threatening aid cut offs to Pakistan, the United States should maintain current levels, but reward provincial, city and local governments, opposition parties and civil society organizations that share our long-term objectives in Pakistan.

Rather than bemoan that Musharraf is America’s only alternative, we should start contributing to the development of new leaders across the country.

In particular, they recommend we triple our investment in education, which currently only accounts for 2.54% of US assistance to Islamabad.