The classical theory of realism explicitly reiterates that the global environment is anarchic. There is no world government which will regulate the international system and maintain the global world order. Therefore, states have to protect their interest and more importantly its sovereignty in such an environment. The foreign policy of the United States is genuinely based upon the above principle. Washington tries to protect its national security, maximize its national interest and ensure American relevancy internationally. Right after the Second World War, when the US left its policy of Isolation and got aggressively engaged in global politics to curtail the threat of communism and foster its own political and economic system.
The contest between two superpowers went on for almost seven decades and eventually ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Right after that, the bipolar world changed into a unipolar world and the United States became a global leader in international politics. This is termed by his indigenous leaders, as End of History and a New World Order.
China a silent competitor was competing with the US. Chinese President Deng Xiaoping, who is usually known as the” Architect of Modern China “pushed the country in a more market-friendly direction. Today, China is posing a threat to the US. It is the only country that has adopted a partially capitalist system by protecting its own one-party system as well. Today, China has almost minimized the American role in the international arena with its soft foreign policy. Big projects like Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and intergovernmental alliances like Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) have connected the number of countries and provided a platform to discuss regional issues and find a common ground to discuss regional issues. This engagement of China with South Asian, Central Asian and Southeast Asian countries has further aggravated American problems globally.
There is cynicism and frustration domestically in the US that, China is challenging the liberal world order and replacing the US as a world leader. In such a framework Washington is worried about her status and trying to ensure its global relevancy by supporting her allies in the region. The Obama Administration came with the Asia Pivot Policy back in 2010 to materialize this objective and followed by Asian policy to contain rising China.
When Donald Trump ascended to the thrones of power, he initially adopted an aggressive behaviour toward Pakistan. He basically wants to substitute the role of Pakistan and delegate greater authority and responsibility to India to contain rising China and to mitigate Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan. Trump Administration came with the “Indo Pacific Policy” for this objective. But New Delhi’s little interest and its strong foreign policy dismayed Trump administration. At this point, Washington realized the geostrategic significance of Pakistan and once again turned towards Islamabad to gain his waning powers in the region and globally. The US is basically tangled in the number of issues in South Asia, South East Asia, and the Middle East for which it needs Pakistan helps to get out of those problems especially, the US -Iran issue for which Pakistan meditation is of paramount importance.
In his recent visit to India, US President Donald Trump well played his dual card, he praised Pakistan in India. He basically wants to engage with both India and Pakistan. The administration in Washington wants to solve its political issues in the region with the help of Pakistan and looks towards India as an export market. India is a bigger export market for the US especially for military hardware as both have signed a military deal of reportedly $3 billion. Similarly, India is also aspiring to be a regional hegemon by stepping on US shoes. In contrast, US is pampering India to counter rising China and to pressurize North Korea and Iran.
Plus, one other thing is at the end of this year there are presidential elections in the US. Donald Trump wants to go in election campaign with a big victory on her foreign policy as his popularity degraded domestically due to his impeachment. Both Pakistan and India should realize American aims in the region. Washington has his own axe to grind. They prioritize their interest and leave their allies in the lurch when the required objectives are materialized. As the US has done it in the past may times. One such thing is apparent during the collapse of the Soviet Union. In his recent visit to India, he well played his card while Modi wants Trump to bash against Pakistan. Pakistan should engage with the US to solve the Kashmir issue which has destabilized the region for almost more than seven decades.
The writer is freelancer from Gilgit. He can be reached at [email protected]