Ambassador to Pakistan Analyzes U.S.-Pakistan Relations

The relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani intelligence communities is “okay,” U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron P. Munter said on Monday, but the two nations’ military relationship is “not okay.”

Munter delivered this frank analysis during a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School in which he emphasized the importance of repairing strained ties between the nation he represents and the place he is stationed.

“Assistance to Pakistan should have the goal of ending assistance to Pakistan,” Munter said.

He said he hopes that the “assistance relationship” that currently exists will morph into a “partnership” fostered by U.S. trade, business, and investment in Pakistan.

Munter also said that the U.S. should have a more “modest” relationship with Pakistan—less extensive involvement in Pakistan’s affairs and “less bluster” in the dialogue between the nations.

Munter has spent his diplomatic career in Afghanistan, Czech Republic, Germany, Iraq, Poland, Serbia, and Washington, D.C.

Munter’s current post, Kennedy School professor Nicholas R. Burns said in his introduction to Munster’s speech, may be the most challenging of all American diplomatic assignments.

“The U.S.-Pakistani relationship is among our most important,” Burns said. Precarious negotiations surrounding terrorism, al-Qaeda, and U.S. engagement in Afghanistan make U.S. activity in South Asia the “heart of American diplomacy,” Burns said.

Kennedy School student Adam M. Levy said after Munter’s lecture that America’s involvement in Pakistan has been overbearing. “The United States is not there to solve clearly regional issues,” he said.

But he added that he trusted Munter to handle the difficult situation. “He is a dynamic, great guy. Our country is in great hands.”

Munter said that he believes the current strain in the United States’ relationship with Pakistan is in part the result of a “wave of idealism” in U.S. government in 2008.

Leaders at the time “over-promised” extensive commitments to Pakistan, aiming to strengthen the two countries’ relations, Munter said. But those assurances backfired when American leaders failed to deliver on their promises.

“I was interested by the geopolitics which he talked about, how the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is impacted by India and China,” Ben J. Lamont ’14 said. “We need to look beyond a bilateral relationship with Pakistan and examine the situation in a broader context.”

Such expansive conversations are difficult, attendees acknowledged. But Omer Aftab ’11, who comes from Pakistan, said that he was “impressed with [Munter’s] willingness to tackle tough issues.”

—Staff writer Alyza J. Sebenius can be reached at asebenius@college.harvard.edu.