Precarious Partnership: Pakistan's Response to U.S. Security Policies
Abstract
The Pakistan government s capacity for adapting its national interests to U.S. strategic imperatives has been put to its severest test ever in the period following the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. The adherence of Pakistan to the global coalition against terrorism brought a number of substantial benefits to Pakistan, including both a political and economic boost. However, the consequent loss of its Afghanistan ally was a crippling setback, one that has triggered a strong and politically hazardous wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. Kashmir' s lofty status among Pakistan's strategic concerns has ensured Pakistan's leaders great reluctance either to cave in entirely on the contentious matter of cross-border infiltration or to relax the distinction between legitimate freedom struggles and acts of terrorism. There are profound differences between American and Pakistani conceptions of the nuclear danger in South Asia. Washington tends to understand the threat to be emanating largely from Pakistan's nuclear transgressions, while Islamabad insists that the danger springs from an entirely different source India primarily and thus requires a remedy tailored specifically to India. Pakistanis generally hold the view that U.S. security policy in Asia, including what they see as Washington's progressive shift towards an Indo-centric strategic design, is neglectful of Pakistan's basic national interests and, thus, a potential impediment to an enduring Pakistani partnership with the United States. For U.S. policymakers, heading off deepening Pakistani suspicions of American strategic intentions ensuring, in other words, that Pakistan does not end up as America's most distrustful ally presents a continuing challenge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA592291
Entities
People
- Robert G. Wirsing
Organizations
- Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies