As a subject of study, Pakistan is primarily evocative of volatility, disarray, long held as a country that serves as physical sanctuary for violent extremist forces. Jamsheed Marker’s Cover Point: Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan does not follow a set pattern, it rather breaks away from treading the beaten track. It neither presents Pakistan’s chequered political history in pure conventional theoretical terms nor puts it across within the confines of excess security focus. Instead, Marker innovatively approaches the complex political trajectory of Pakistan in a lucid, reader-friendly account embellished with interesting anecdotes, that are quite suggestive of the author’s diplomatic acumen honed during a wide-ranging public service career.
Marker’s previously published book Quiet Diplomacy: Memoirs of An Ambassador of Pakistan (2010) captured his diplomatic tryst in different parts of the world. The latest book presents a collection of his insights and observations of leaders serving at the helm in Pakistan in a span of more than 60 years, that has perennially witnessed political fluctuations between the civilian and the military. Concurrently, there has been a bitter struggle between the two over sharing of power and leadership role.