Even though it is too much to expect Joe Biden’s win in the US presidential election to change the course of American foreign policy for the better, the world has still greeted his victory with a sigh of relief and indeed happiness. Sure, there will probably be a welcome return to the Paris accord on environment and Washington is expected to go back to the nuclear deal with Iran as well, which was so painstakingly pushed into place by the Obama administration when Biden was vice president, but there really isn’t much chance of too much else changing too much. The global sense of relief at Donald Trump’s departure probably has more to do with the toxic personality of the 45th US president and the negative difference that his presence used to make even at monumental international events. And as much as Pakistanis are celebrating the return of the Democrats to the White House, they forget that historically Republicans have made far better business partners with Islamabad. President Trump had his mood swings, like the ones that resulted in a sudden suspension of all military programs with Pakistan only to be taken back later, but overall the two countries were able to work nicely together. The help that Pakistan provided to help with the intra-Afghan dialogue, which came after the Americans came to Islamabad for help, made for a very welcome departure from the mutual mistrust with the Obama administration. It was also President Obama in whose time Washington came out with its Pivot to Asia policy, which marked a very visible departure from the longstanding American practice of focusing its foreign policy primarily on the Middle East. Turning towards Asia was in fact a timely recognition of the fast rise of China. America reckons that rise can best be checked now, before it has properly happened, by keeping it off balance in its own back yard. And since that particular tactic is going to be achieved by empowering and mobilising India, there are sure to be points of friction with Pakistan. Even if Biden does not pressure China as much as Trump did, you can be sure that he won’t take his foot completely off the market either and keep some sorts of tariffs in place just to keep up the pressure on the Middle Kingdom. That too is not the best of signs of Pakistan since we are now almost completely dependent on China to make our reserves look pretty. *