LAHORE, PAKISTAN — College student Amena Omer inhaled tobacco from a hookah, the octopus arms of the hubbly-bubbly wrapped around a table leg, and summed up the state of her country: "Worse than zero."
Having foreigners refer to their home as a failed state naturally puts Pakistanis on the defensive, she said. But when the 19-year-old looks around at the creeping fundamentalism, increased terrorist attacks, squabbling politicians and large swaths of the nation beyond government control, part of her thinks they may have a point.
"This country's situation is getting worse," Omer said as she hung out with several college friends at a cafe in Lahore. "Honestly, Pakistan is going in the wrong direction. Sometimes you wonder if it's going to exist in another 20 years."
In the narrow alleys of the Aabpara Market in Islamabad, fabric seller Akhlaq Abbas scoffs at a young person's dire predictions. Pakistan is not a failed state, the 61-year-old says. Sure, it has problems, although he doesn't think that's exactly accidental.
"Groups of people from abroad are working to destabilize Pakistan," he said, as others in the bazaar nodded in agreement. "Outsiders -- from India, Israel, America and Britain -- are meddling. They send drones over our heads and kill people. Our troubles happen because outside forces want to hold Pakistan back."
As Pakistanis grapple with growing problems at home, many are keenly aware of their nation's eroding reputation abroad. They're outraged at implicit comparisons to Somalia or Afghanistan, and fearful that as more foreign analysts chime in, the view that their country is fundamentally flawed will become contagious, taking on a life of its own.
Many also recognize, however, that the country has deep-seated problems. A recent truce with militants allows them to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley, further sapping the power of a government that only nominally controls large parts of its tribal and frontier territories.
On Monday, Taliban militants declared the peace deal "worthless" after a Pakistani military offensive against insurgent hide-outs in Lower Dir, near the border with Afghanistan.
Paramilitary forces using helicopters and artillery killed 20 suspected militants Monday, bringing the total to at least 46 in recent days, according to a statement by the army.
