Pakistan

Created on August 14, 1947, as a homeland for South Asian Muslims under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the new state soon confronted political fragility, beginning with the 1951 assassination of its first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan. Mounting instability culminated in the 1958 coup by Ayub Khan, inaugurating recurring military dominance. His successor, Yahya Khan (1969–1971), presided over the rupture that led to the birth of Bangladesh in December 1971. Civilian rule returned under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but his 1977 ouster and 1979 execution under Zia-ul-Haq ushered in sweeping Islamization. The 1990s brought unstable parliamentary cycles, followed by the 1999 takeover of Pervez Musharraf, whose era ended in 2008. Subsequent years produced a hybrid political order, where elected governments operated alongside entrenched military authority. By 2024, former premier Imran Khan remained jailed after contentious elections, intensifying polarization. Diplomatically, Pakistan joined eight Muslim-majority states in the “Board of Peace,” a Gaza reconstruction coalition with Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, announced on January 21, 2026. One day later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif endorsed the charter at the World Economic Forum. On January 29, 2026, officials stressed the initiative did not signal recognition of Israel, focusing solely on ceasefire efforts, rebuilding Gaza, and supporting Palestinian self-determination.