Pakistan-United States Relationship Post Afghanistan War

Abstract

Pakistan’s relations with the United States have always been rocky since 1947. The periodic convergence of strategic and security interests have brought them closer to each other, time and again. The bilateral cooperation, however, more often, remained in the favor of the US as Pakistan paid a heavy cost in terms of men and resources. Islamabad has collaborated with the US in its containment policy during the Cold war era. Later, in the 1980s, Pakistan provided outright support to the US in the war against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and also the civil war that followed. Since 9/11, Pakistan has been actively engaged with the US in the war against terrorism. More recently, Pakistan’s crucial role in orchestrating a peace deal between the warring parties, the Taliban, and the Afghan government speaks for the significance of Islamabad in the US’s South Asia Policy. Why is the periodic convergence predominantly driving Pak-US relations? What are the major impediments to ‘consistent foreign policy’ between the two countries? These questions are the core of this research. Bedside, this study attempts to figure out post-US withdrawal political and security complexities in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s role in mitigating immediate and long-term threats through US possible collaboration. Apart from the Kabul-centric approach, this study aims to look forward independent, consistent Pak-US relationships based on equitable cooperation on both traditional and non-traditional security spheres. The study argued that Pakistan being a strategically important country is crucial to US interests in the region, thus, productive cooperation in the future between the two countries is mutually beneficial.