Since its inception Pakistan has been facing various administrative problems. If we peel off the layers of these politico-economic problems we get to the managerial question of formulating effective policies and their successful implementation. At the heart of this administrative dilemma lies the structure and functioning of the civil service. Stanley Wolpert has highlighted the importance of civil service in his book Jinnah of Pakistan in the following words: ?For running the machinery of the state, whatever may be its form, democratic (parliamentary, presidential), socialist, communist, capitalist, utilitarian, totalitarian, fascist, Bonapartic, dictatorial, militarist, autocratic, monarchy (feudalist, absolute or constitutional); and for fulfilling the objectives of the state vis-?-vis its contractual nature with the society, civil servants, as instruments, had played a phenomenal role.?

A developing country with an immediate need for good governance, in particular, cannot ignore the importance of its civil servants. How are they trained, selected and deputed? What are their core responsibilities? How to evaluate their performance? All these questions and more have been addressed in Analysis and Future Possibilities: Civil Services of Pakistan ? Dilemmas and Challenges, edited by Sarfraz Khawaja.

The book is a compilation of 12 research papers written by senior civil servants during their professional training (national management course) under the institutional umbrella of National School of Public Policy (NSPP). Khawaja is currently working as dean of the National Institute of Public Policy, Lahore. He is a veteran academician with a long career of teaching in the US and Pakistan, besides which he has done research consultancy work for several international organisations. His efforts to edit, update, and compile these otherwise not easily accessible research papers for general readers are commendable.