A nation emerging from colonization usually faces the challenges that determine its trajectory due to the occurrence of critical moments. These crucial events usually bring about a systemic upheaval that changes the structure of the country’s political governance, both internally and externally. For Pakistan, the 11th of September is one such critical juncture, which is a point of tragedy and adaptation in the nation’s history. Through analyzing the two occurrences that happened on this same fateful date, in 1948 and 2001, respectively, one can be able to see how the country has always had to build resilience through structural shocks.

The first event happened on the 11th of September, 1948, with the death of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah—the founding father and the determining figure who made Pakistan a reality. Apart from the loss of a beloved leader, the sudden death of Mr. Jinnah was a huge institutional damage since it happened just thirteen months after the independence of Pakistan.

In newly established states, the charisma of a leader is key in the development of democratic values. The cracks within the fragile system soon emerged as it took the country nine years to draft its constitution in 1956, which opened the ground for the bureaucracy and the military establishment, being two unelected agencies, to consolidate themselves and eclipse the weaker civilian agencies. Foreign........

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