Redefining Pakistan-US Relations in Post-Afghanistan Withdrawal Phase

Abstract

Pak-US relationship has mostly been marred due to broken promises, disastrous misunderstandings, lack of trust, and exaggerated expectations from each other's policies. Pak-US engagement has always been absorbedly framed either to achieve short-term security-related goals or around the compulsions to meet common challenges, especially the US needs & interest in the broader regional environment. Concerning the geo-strategic environment, the relevance that the US accorded to Pakistan has always been restricted to Afghanistan, whether it was during the cold war, the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, or the post 9/ 11 US war on terror. The future of Pak-US relations in the post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan is full of uncertainty and the nature of US interest towards Pakistan has changed. The paper analyzes the historical transactional patterns of the relationship and compulsive factors, circumstances behind the US decision to alienate, abandon and impose economic and military sanctions on Pakistan, post-withdrawal complexities.