Thursday, March 2, 2017

Reviewing Pakistan’s foreign policy options


M Saeed Khalid, criterion-quarterly.com

Image from, with caption: Future US President, Barak Obama with a Pakistani friend in Karachi in 1982.

Excerpt:
President Obama’s keenness to disengage from the war in Afghanistan resulted in increased pressure on Pakistan ... . Obama had to concede in the end that it was necessary to maintain US forces around Kabul and elsewhere to support the fledgling governments in Kabul. That, however, did not diminish the pressure on Pakistan to “do more” to reign in the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqanis. As a result, Pakistan’s diplomacy was forced to the back foot. The same goes for Pakistan’s public diplomacy that was seen mostly in a reactive mode, trying to ward off coordinated criticism from Kabul, Delhi and Washington. ... 

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