Defense Spending and National Security of Pakistan: A Policy Perspective

Defense spending of Pakistan remains high in order to sustain a credible deterrence, significant geopolitical position in Afghan wars and combat terrorism. This article analyzes the defense spending in light of perceived and real threats to Pakistan's security proclaimed as military security element of national security and examines its linkages with economic growth. By developing a theoretical framework to explore the different dimensions of national security, the article empirically investigates the relationship between defense spending and national security by assembling fifty structured interviews from armed forces officers, civil bureaucrats, and experts to analyze and bargain the gap between theory and practice and to carve a national counter terrorism policy. The article recommends that trust deficit, less trade openness, and high defense spending are all conflict enhancing elements. Pakistan should focus more on social sector development, initiate dialogue process on political and local level with Taliban and local stakeholders to stop agitations.