Of late, the media in the UK has been full of doom and gloom about the future of publishing and bookshops. In a recent article, the founder of Waterstones, the large bookshop chain, has blamed readers for not supporting their local booksellers, and downloading e-books on to Kindle and other handheld devices.

Companies like Amazon can use their huge online presence to get deep discounts from publishers that undercut the price at which smaller retailers can sell books. Not having to spend money on brick-and-mortar shops, online sellers have a huge price advantage. Simultaneously, Amazon is offering authors the possibility of issuing their books directly instead of going through the normal chain of agents and publishers.

All this spells bad news for traditional book publishing and retailing. But a visitor to the 41st London Book Fair last week could be excused for not noticing the clouds hovering over the publishing industry. Located at Earl’s Court, London’s enormous exhibition hall, the fair brought together literally hundreds of publishers. Indeed, when I asked an official at the media centre for the exact number, she couldn’t give me a figure.

Spread over a vast expanse were row upon row of stalls with thousands of new titles displayed in shelves. Publishers had installed chairs and tables where meetings were constantly being held. On the upper floor was another large area reserved for agents doing deals for editions across the world. There was a constant buzz of purposeful activity as authors, agents and publishers mingled to discuss translation rights and possible co-publishing deals.

The theme for this year’s fair was China, the world’s biggest single publishing hub. A huge pavilion housed Chinese publishers, and their agents scoured the fair for possible titles to pick up for translation in their country. Many other countries were represented: here, individual publishers that could not afford to set up their own stands were represented under their national flags.

One area was reserved for digital publishing, and one could see why traditional publishers are so nervous about the threat the new technology poses. With the explosive growth of the market for tablets, electronic books are going viral. Many people I know do most of their reading on the ubiquitous Kindle device. Since the cost of producing an electronic book is a fraction of what a traditional one does, it can be downloaded for a much lower price. And many books that are no longer covered by copyright are offered as free downloads. No wonder large publishing houses are scrambling to get on the digital bandwagon.International agencies like the UN, the IMF and the World Bank had stands offering their various titles. However, none of the books on display were for sale. Indeed, the thirty-pound tickets discouraged casual booklovers. This is strictly a trade fair, and most participants had registered online. Luckily, my journalistic credentials let me in for free.

Apart from curiosity, I was there to try and find a UK publisher for my book Fatal Faultlines: Pakistan, Islam and the West. While the book has been published in the US and India, it is not yet available in the UK. A friend in the publishing industry has kindly agreed to represent me as my agent, and introduced me to a number of publishers at the fair. A couple of them seem interested, so let’s see what happens.

I was glad I had a spare copy of my book to present Ahmed Rashid, the well-known journalist and author. In London to promote his book Pakistan on the Brink, he spoke recently at the Frontline Club, an institution that made headlines across the world when Julian Assange, of Wikileaks fame, appeared there last year. The club hosts scores of talks, and most of its members are journalists, or those with a keen interest in international relations. The premises have a bar and a restaurant, so there are always like-minded people who gravitate there.

At last week’s event, Ahmed was in conversation with the BBC journalist Lyse Doucet, who, as readers know, has covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for many years, and has acquired a deep knowledge of the region and the personalities who dominate it. As the title of his latest book suggests, Ahmed is rather pessimistic about Pakistan’s prospects of pulling back from the abyss. His previous book, Descent into Chaos, catalogues the errors the United States has committed in Afghanistan, and also delves into Pakistan’s many fractures and follies. Over the years, Ahmed has been an unsparing critic of the Pakistan military’s role in the many disasters that have befallen us.

Pakistan on the Brink is equally critical of our generals, just as it is of politicians. He discerns no sign of a serious attempt to cleanse Pakistan of extremism, and sees the rise of terrorist groups as a mortal threat. In his illustrious career, Ahmed has spent time with leaders like Karzai who was a personal friend, Tony Blair, Obama and many others. But he despairs of their ability to see the dangers emanating from the region, and to follow the right policies.

Ahmed has long argued that the West has been blundering in Afghanistan by focussing almost exclusively on the military aspect of counter-insurgency operations, while largely ignoring nation-building. He fears that with Afghanistan in disarray less than two years before the departure of Western forces, the civil war will resume, and it will be back to square one. Ahmed suggests that the Americans should engage the Taliban in serious negotiations that may take months. But in the rush to the exits, he doubts very much that Western leaders will have the patience for the slow, deliberate diplomacy this kind of effort needs.

His remedy for the situation in Pakistan is, to my mind, a bit far-fetched: he suggests an open and frank exchange between the military and civilian leadership to build a consensus.

Sadly, the balance of power between the two is still too heavily tilted towards GHQ for a discussion between equals.