Monthly WIN Short-Form Book Review

Julian Richards examines the history of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate by looking at the service’s involvement in the country’s political transformations. The introduction explains the book traces “the development of the ISI from the birth of Pakistan in August 1947 to the reinstatement of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021” (p. 2). Richards analyzes how ISI has played a significant role in Pakistan’s state-building and provides readers with a study that enables comparative studies with other Global South countries. Part of Georgetown University Press’ Concise Histories of Intelligence series, the book is relatively short and organized topically, which leans more to contemporary events.

The first chapter examines ISI’s foundations with attention to Pakistan’s early post-colonial politics, including the 1947–8 war with India that highlighted the importance of having actionable intelligence and prompted the military to quickly assemble what became ISI. On the domestic front, Richards compares this period of Pakistan with Africa and writes Pakistan “followed a model observed in many other postcolonial states, whereby intelligence and investigation were oriented more toward violent repression of dissent, and protection of the rulers, rather than toward an objective view of national security imperatives” (p. 21). Next, the second chapter probes ISI’s organization and culture with an overview from its origins to the contemporary era that demonstrates its military “mindset,” the significance of Islam, fear of India and its distrust in civilian competence. Richards explains, “The interplay between Islamist and nationalist thinking, therefore, is a central element of ISI culture, and one that is not always fully understood” (p. 45).

Turning to leadership, the third chapter focuses on the impact of Pakistan’s military and authoritarian political leadership where ISI has served as a “manager” of state issues broadly rather than just intelligence. Analyzing ISI’s leadership in seven different periods and the political issues in each era, Richards writes that all ISI leaders had “an often ambiguous attitude toward civilian rule in Pakistan, veering from naked distrust of the competence of elected politicians to a willingness to interfere with the electoral process” (p. 75). The fourth chapter describes ISI’s activities, operations, and analysis with attention to its links with militant groups, which greatly increased following ISI’s assistance to the mujahideen’s war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Reviewing cases of internal political management and providing leadership with assessments, Richards explains that “covert strategy at the center of external operations is the most important of the agency’s operational activities” (p. 98).

Whereas, the fifth chapter discusses ISI’s history with international partners in the context of operating in a difficult neighborhood that includes Afghanistan, China, India and Iran. Highlighting specific cases and complexities surrounding the relationships, Richards argues “ISI’s well-developed intelligence networks in the region, built up over many years of engagement with regional militant actors,” make the service an important and needed partner for countries engaged in South Asia (p. 125). Building from this, the sixth chapter reviews cultural representations with attention to ISI’s depiction in Pakistani and foreign media and arts, including portrayals of duplicity and nationalism. Richards asserts that ISI appears to becoming more publicly open with the media or aware of the shifts in contemporary public relations and Internet media in shaping narratives. Lastly, the seventh chapter provides an analysis about ISI’s legacy, impact, and future with a critical assessment that focuses on ISI’s involvement in repression and authoritarian governance, advocating for putting the service on statutory grounds for accountability to help depoliticize and professionalize the service. He argues the abuses are “a grave mark on Pakistan’s and the ISI’s scorecards” and it “appears to be a long way away from where it needs to be” (p. 164).

This book’s strength is in synthesizing published material into a short and well-written monograph. Readers looking for an introduction about ISI will find a solid overview that lays out the ISI within Pakistan’s broader political history. Yet despite being published by an academic press, the book does not engage significantly with academic arguments and the literature on Pakistan, ISI or South Asia in terms of political science, intelligence studies or history. Rather than make use of archives or ethnography, the book’s sources are largely secondary publications–such as articles or books–published decades later after the events mentioned. For example, he cites a 2011 journal article from India to explain an infamous 1974 report about the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War was leaked to the Pakistani press in 2000. Yet, the book does make use of the select English-language memoirs from Pakistan and offers recommendations on these works in the appendix, but relies on them over official documents that are available. For instance, he cites a memoir from L.P. Sen who says an “unnamed director” from British India’s Intelligence Bureau transferred unspecified information and equipment to Pakistan on independence, but the official British records with the details of personnel, accounts and offices transfers are available in papers at archives in the United Kingdom and India (p. 11). Additionally, the book sometimes uses a western lens to analyze the subject. For example, Richards writes that the heads of ISI “have generally enjoyed rather short tenures, lasting just two or three years or even fewer,” but does not explain that it is commonplace in South Asia, such as in India where the heads of the intelligence agencies are appointed for just two years and can only serve longer with official extensions (p. 47). This is ostensibly done to prevent the intelligence and security heads from becoming too powerful. Nonetheless, the book is a recommended concise introduction to the subject for readers and students who want a primer on the subject.

Ryan Shaffer has a PhD in history and is the co-editor of the journal Global Change, Peace & Security. His books include African Intelligence Services: Early Postcolonial and Contemporary Challenges, The Handbook of African Intelligence Cultures, The Handbook of Asian Intelligence Cultures, and Intelligence Services in South Asia: Colonial Past and Post-Colonial Realities.