It seems almost quaint to recall that, not so long ago, the relations of India and Pakistan with the United States were almost exactly the reverse of what they are now. Pakistan, the Muslim state created in 1947 in the wake of Indian independence, leaned toward the West and was friendly to Cold War Washington. “Non-aligned” India, led by the British-educated socialist Jawaharlal Nehru and the other grandees of his clan, kept Washington at arm’s length and was helpful to the Soviet Union.

Yet for Pakistan, at least, one figure personified the gradual, awkward transition, which he sought to prevent during his nine tumultuous years as president: Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The onetime army commando seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, chose America’s side against Islamist terror after the 9/11 attacks, and sought unsuccessfully to balance a reformist agenda against the rise of radical Islam in his homeland.