Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate: A State within a State?

Abstract : Standing at the crossroads of South, Southwest, and Central Asia, Pakistan is strategically important to the United States. Vice President Richard Nixon recognized the country's significance for Cold War containment in 1953, envisioning it as a linchpin to contain Communist influence in Afghanistan and a "Northern Tier" buffer against Soviet hegemony. In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States pursued military alliances to thwart Soviet and Chinese regional intentions, including placement of National Security Agency facilities in Pakistan. Francis Gary Powers U-2 reconnaissance aircraft shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 flew from Peshawar, Pakistan.