From Guns to Cereal, Military Dominates Pakistan

But rioting, mass migration and disputes over borders quickly brought Pakistan and its neighbor to war. Pakistanis feared that their newly created country would be eliminated by India if they did not have a large military. So Pakistan's military emerged as the guardian of the Muslim state, and its influence in politics grew.

Husain Haqqani, director of Boston University's Center for International Relations, explains why a young Pakistan appealed to the West for military support.

"Pakistan, because it needed money and resources for its military, turned to the West and became an American ally very early in its history," Haqqani says. India decided to be nonaligned in the Cold War, "so Cold War factors came into play," he says.

"The United States ended up putting a lot of resources into Pakistan's military, and to this day, the fact remains that whenever Pakistan has had civilian government it has received less U.S. aid than when it has been under military government. So the military's role has continued to grow."