A slow tsunami: Pakistan ravaged by flooding
The summertime floods have devastated Pakistan—inundating one-fifth of the country, displacing millions, destroying and altering landscapes. But in other ways the floods changed very little. The country was already facing a perilous humanitarian and social situation. The floods have led some to wonder whether there is a future for the country.
"The Pakistani nation does not exist now," said one Pakistani.
Some argue that possession of nuclear weapons guarantees that the world's sixth-largest country will not break apart. The international community generally and the U.S. in particular have too much at stake in Pakistan, in its neighbor Afghanistan and in southern Asia to allow the situation to deteriorate into full chaos. Others point out that predictions of Pakistan's demise have been made before and have been proven wrong. Still, the months ahead are going to be wrenching—a fact confirmed when I spent early September with Church World Service colleagues in northern Pakistan.
