Pakistan’s military has been the country’s dominant power centre for most of its post-colonial history, shaping the politics and policies of the state. But the military’s dominance is neither unconstrained nor uncontested. The military is unable to maintain its authority and influence without relying on a coalition of allied bureaucrats, judges, political parties, urban and rural capitalists and civil society organizations. In Pakistan, many use the shorthand term ‘the establishment’ to describe this coalition of formal institutions, associations and interest groups, aligned around a mutual interest in supporting the military’s political agenda. On the other hand, other political parties and segments of civil society have long worked to limit the military’s authority and counter its political agenda. The struggle over maintaining or displacing the military as the primary power centre within the political system has been the axis around which Pakistan’s politics has revolved for decades.