Pakistan's twin interrelated challenges: economic development and security

The 2010 devastating floods in Pakistan have starkly reminded the world of the two critical, interrelated challenges confronting Pakistan: economic development and security. And whilst the Pakistan government's capacity to deal with these two issues before the flood was already shaky at best, its position now is even more precarious given the enormity of the task of rebuilding the infrastructure that has been destroyed in this latest natural disaster. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is a large and strategically important country, critically located on one of the world's most important geopolitical crossroads. It is a pivotal player in a region-covering the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia-which has much potential, but which also has unresolved conflicts and various degrees of instability. Accordingly, because Pakistan is so important to the stability of the region and the world at large, it is vital that it be able to address successfully these twin challenges.