For years, people have feared that Pakistan is about to become a failed state.(The Week)(Brief article)

For years, people have feared that Pakistan is about to become a failed state. This latest crisis might indeed push it over the edge. What's happening is the kind of personalized test of strength that constitutes the political process in countries without meaningful democracy. Two power-hungry men, President Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, are engaged in a no-holds-barred struggle. One apparently prime issue is the role of the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a vital player suspended from office and in a position to affect the outcome of the power struggle. But, as always in conditions like these, force is decisive. Zardari placed Sharif under house arrest and rounded up hundreds of his supporters. Sharif countered by mobilizing his supporters for ...