THE international nation-state system is based on anarchy, where each state must ensure its security independently. From the perspective of Westphalia, two key characteristics define a nation-state: no internal parallel and no external superior above the state. In international politics, the national power of a state is considered the hallmark for determining its status. The national power of any state relies on combination of many elements and factors, collectively known as elements of national power. Among these, the military is regarded as most significant factor.
Traditionally, Pakistan’s military has served as a strong pillar of national power. In this context, the Pakistani military has faced numerous challenges in defeating aggressive designs of rival powers at both regional and international levels. The most recent and defining test came in May 2025. Following the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, 2025, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking Pakistani territory. Pakistan responded with Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, and a ceasefire was reached on May 10. Thereafter, Field Marshal Asim Munir reinvigorated the military command structure for a better coordination to fight all forms of warfare; land, air, naval, cyber, and strategic forces in any future confrontation. The performance of Pakistan’s military during this four-day multi-domain conflict reaffirmed its professional standing and reinvigorated the bond of trust between the institution and the Pakistani nation.
In order to demonstrate its desired power potential, the military needs support of masses of Pakistan. Customarily, masses respected and loved the military for its effective role in all wars and while combating non-traditional security threats, especially in defeating terrorism. The well-planned defamation campaign against the Pakistani military by some forces and non-state actors is an attempt to create a split between masses and the military. These groups make use of mainstream as well as social media for their disinformation campaigns to defame and politicise the military and its premium intelligence set-up.
Domestically, defamation and politicisation of the Pakistan Army aims at relegation of love and respect that the men in uniform have been receiving from masses. The Pakistani military draws its strength from masses of Pakistan. This intimate bond and devoted connection is the real area of concern for rival powers of Pakistan. The foes of Pakistan have, therefore, chosen to target this intimate relationship in phase one of their larger anti-Pakistan agenda. During this phase, the planners seek to create differences between masses and the military through an indirect strategy of defamation, negatively agitating the sentiments of masses and creating abhorrence against the institution.
Indeed, no external power can succeed in overpowering Pakistan in the presence of a very strong and highly professional military which enjoys unswerving, resilient, and dedicated support of people of Pakistan. The enemies of Pakistan had tried it many a time, last being global war against terrorism. The intimacy and strong association between the Pakistani military and masses enabled the former to combat, defeat, and dig out roots of internationally sponsored terrorism against the state and society of Pakistan. This annoyed the planners and compelled them to diversify their strategies against Pakistan.
The events of May 2025 added a new and revealing dimension to this pattern. During the India-Pakistan conflict, digital platforms became active theatres of coordinated disinformation. Deepfakes, recycled footage, fabricated events, and coordinated hashtag campaigns were deployed to amplify anti-Pakistan narratives and manipulate international perceptions. This was not spontaneous. It was a carefully orchestrated information warfare campaign, aimed at undermining Pakistan’s military credibility and exploiting the crisis to deepen internal divisions. India has long run a global disinformation campaign to damage Pakistan’s international image. A December 2020 report by EU DisinfoLab exposed an extensive network operated by a New Delhi-based group, comprising more than 750 fake media outlets, NGOs, and think tanks spreading misinformation and misleading narratives about Pakistan. This network did not go dormant during the May 2025 conflict it intensified.
While debating external dimension of targeting Pakistan and its military, it appears that after having failed in their strategies of weakening the Pakistani military through direct approach, the international spying networks have adopted an indirect strategy. They assume that after weakening the military, there will be no force to resist international and regional forces that seek to ruin Pakistan, the way it happened with Iraq and Libya. Defamation and politicisation of the Pakistani military is an indirect approach to devastate Pakistan in a future scenario.
Under such a scenario, Pakistani masses, especially the youth, have a key role to play. The youth of Pakistan need to be geared up to counter strategies of rival forces against Pakistan. Field Marshal Asim Munir and his team members during meeting with students of various universities and colleges from across the country have deliberated over emerging challenges facing the state and society of Pakistan, focusing on implications of external environment on security and stability of Pakistan. Besides, Pakistaniat is the most needed aspect that Pakistani youth need to pursue with a clear motive. With Pakistaniat in their minds, there is a need to create a sense of pride in the history of Pakistan, its culture and values, as a key element in their intellectual and personal development.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
