In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba

The basic goal of states in an anarchical international system is survival. One of the best ways to ensure survival is to maximize security through self-help. States engage in self-help in a panoply of ways, like military modernization and arms build-ups. Pakistan’s collaboration with the menagerie of non-state actors can be seen as a self-help strategy for countering a conventionally superior India, while at the same time pursuing vital domestic and foreign security objectives. Christine Fair’s book, In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, helps in understanding the complex network of non-state actors operating in Pakistan by unpacking the organizational and institutional structures of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), which makes it the most favoured non-state actor in Pakistan.