A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official reckons that Pakistan is probably the "most dangerous country" in the world. The official made the statement while citing the potential dangers emanating from the country's rampant terrorism, its failing economy and developing one of the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world.
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Kevin Hulbert, a former CIA Station Chief in Islamabad, warned that the "failure" of Pakistan would have adverse implications across the globe. The official, in a website for intelligence community Cipher Brief, compared Pakistan with a bank which is "too big to allow to fail" because allowing it to fail would have grave impact on the greater economy.
"We have big problems in Afghanistan with its population of 33 million people, but Pakistan has about 182 million inhabitants, over five times the size of Afghanistan. In the end, while Pakistan is not the most dangerous country in the world, it probably is the most dangerous country for the world," Hulbert said.
"There seem few levers to pull in Pakistan today, but if we pursue a strategy of containment or disengagement, things will only get worse," he added.
The official also added that the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have given billions of dollars in financial assistance to Pakistan because the prospects of the nation collapsing presents the US President with more nightmare scenarios than probably any other country in the world.
"So, we keep throwing money at it, trying to steer them towards good behaviour, and with only limited success. But, we must keep trying," he added.
Hulbert said that the main mission in Afghanistan is to stop the country from falling to the Taliban and to prevent the nation from being a safe haven for terrorist organisations, which may plan terror attack against Western countries, the Press Trust of India reports.
