Introduction
The relationship between Pakistan and the United States of America dates back to 1947. The US is the first county that made the first country to establish social and economic relationships with this country. Today, these relationships largely involve economic and military assistance from the United States of America to Pakistan (Qazi, 2012). During the Cold War period, Pakistan opted to stick with the United States of America instead of the Union of Soviet Social Republics (USSR). Since the very beginning, the relationship between Pakistan and the United States of America has never been unstable. This essay seeks to research on how Pakistan is both an asset and a threat to the United States of America’s interests.
Pakistan as an Asset to America’s interests
Pakistan is a very important country in terms of the United States of America’s interests in Central Asia (Nasr, 2011). In terms of geography, Pakistan has common borders with Iran and Afghanistan and therefore acts as a connection between the United States and the two countries, Iran and Afghanistan (Nasr, 2011). In its war against the Taliban, the United States can only use Pakistan as an ally for such activities. Otherwise, it becomes hard to fight the Taliban from any other direction or location. Also, in case relations between Iran and the United States of America call for military intervention again, Pakistan would provide a gateway for such an activity (Nasr, 2011).
Secondly, Pakistan provides a route for the United States of America’s military aid to Afghanistan (Nasr, 2011). Without such a route, the United States of America’s mission would fail to yield any success. Pakistan has provided a launchpad for war against the Taliban as well as Al Qaeda over the last ten years. Reports indicate that the Al Qaeda leader lives in Waziristan, Pakistan. As such, the United States of America must cooperate with Pakistan to forestall any risk of terrorism advanced by the Taliban and Al Qaeda (Qazi, 2012). Such groups may resort to taking over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons with the intent of attacking the United States of America.
Pakistan as a threat to the United States of America’s Interests
America stands as a symbol of democracy, while in contrast, Pakistan is undemocratic, and its administration is corrupted and intolerant to dissenting views. America’s interests involve transforming states into democracies (Waraich, 2013). On this front, Pakistan is a threat to such an endeavor by the United States of America. This portrays the United States of America as engaging in double standards and selfish since America applies conditions to other allies, including democratization and liberalization of the economy. Such ally states include Egypt, Syria, and other Islamic states (Epstein & Kronstadt, 2012).
Secondly, Pakistan manifests duplicity in its relationship with the United States of America. A recent case in which Pakistan allegedly participated in the ambush of the American Embassy in Kabul confirms that Pakistan is only interested in securing economic and military aid from America but not in looking out for America’s interests (Hamilton, 2008). Also, Pakistan is interested in bringing Afghanistan to its side more than fighting the Taliban movement in Afghanistan since Pakistan fears that Afghanistan may enter into a union with India (Hamilton, 2008). Such a union would lead to a weakened Pakistan position to the extent of losing its territory to India.
References
Epstein, S. B., & Kronstadt, K. A. (2012). Pakistan: U.S. Foreign Assistance. Web.
Hamilton, L. (2008). Dealing with Pakistan is risky business. Web.
Nasr, V. (2011). Why the U.S. needs to make nice with Pakistan. Web.
Qazi, S. (2012,). US-Pakistan Relations: Common and Clashing Interests. Web.
Waraich, O. (2013). Losing Pakistan: An Insider’s Look at How the U.S. Deals With Its Ally. Web.