In The State of Martial Rule Ayesha Jalal analyses the dialectic between state construction and political processes in Pakistan in the first decade of the country's independence and convincingly demonstrates how the imperatives of the international system in the 'cold war' era combined with regional and domestic factors to mould the structure of the Pakistani state.

The demand for Pakistan, 1940-1947 -- Pakistan's share of the spoils -- Constructing the state -- Wielding state power : politicians, bureaucrats and generals -- Breaking down the political system, 1954-1958 -- State and society in the balance : Islam as ideology and culture -- The state of martial rule, 1958 to the present : towards a conceptual framework.