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83
Pakistan-United States
Relations: An
Appraisal
by Rais A. Khan
American
Studies
International, VolXXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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84
American
Studies Vol.XXIII,
1985,
International,
April No.1
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85
American
Studies 1985,
International,
April No.1
Vol.XX1I1,
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American
Studies
International VolXXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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American
Studies
International,
1985,
April No.1
Vol.XXIII,
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88
ofa village
Portrait boyfrom
thePotwar ofPakistan.
region PhotobyJaved
A. Kahn
American
Studies
International
, April Vol.XXIII,
1985, No.1
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89
PAKISTAN-U.S. ALLIANCE
Pakistanand theUnitedStatesenteredintoan alliancerelationship throughfour
pacts:1) MutualDefense AssistanceAgreement, May,1954;2) SEATO, Septem-
ber, 1954;3) BaghdadPact,September,1955;13and 4) Agreementof Cooper-
ation,March,1959.
Pakistanwas theonlyAsian stateto be a memberofbothSEATO and the
BaghdadPact.Theintimacy ofthePakistan-U.S.relationscouldbe judgedfrom
thefactthatPakistancameto be knownas the"most-allied ally"oftheU.S. in
Asia.
TheU.S. and Pakistanenteredthealliancewithbasicallydivergent motives,
theU.S. to containCommunismand Pakistanto containIndia and to ensure
domesticstability
and economicprogress.The Pakistanirulingelites,becauseof
theireducation,training,social background,religiousbeliefsand historical
associations
wereideologicallypro-West, and feltno threatfromeitherRussiaor
China. The U.S., though allergicto India's nonalignment, did not share
Pakistan'sperceivedthreatof India. At the timeof the signingof theSEATO
Treaty,Pakistanmade franticefforts to defineaggressionin widerterms,to
covertheIndiancontingency, but theU.S. appendeda noteto thetextof the
treatystatingthatitscommitment wouldapplyonlyto Communist aggression.
American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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91
American
Studies 1985,
International,
April No.1
Vol.XXIII,
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American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII
1985,
April , No.1
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American
Studies
International,
1985,
April No.1
Vol.XXIII,
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American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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95
Americawishesto obtainleveragewithIslamabadforseveralpurposes:1)
to hold Pakistanin lineovertheAfghanistan issue so thatit does notaccepta
settlement whichis not in America'sglobalinterests; 2) to dissuade Pakistan
frompursuingits nuclearoption;3) to persuadePakistanto shareAmerican
perceptions of regionalcooperationand India's leadershiprolein SouthAsia;
and possiblyin thelongrun4) to makePakistanifacilities availablefortherapid
deployment of the newly created Central Command forces in timeofa crisis.
The new relationship is not an "exclusiverelationship/' The Washington
connectionis not the anchorof Pakistan'ssecurityas it was in the 1950's.
Pakistan'smembership and statusin theNon-AlignedMovement(NAM) and in
theOrganization ofIslamicConference (OIC), and itsveryclose relationswith
China, as wellas itsMuslim neighbors theWest,areimportant
to components of
its securityarchitecture. The quantumof Americanmilitary sales to Pakistan
cannotguaranteethe securityof Pakistan,as it is facedwiththe mightof a
superpower(Russia) on the westernborder,and the vast and sophisticated
arsenalofIndiaon theeasternborder.Allitcan hope toachieveis to discourage
thepotential aggressor byraisingthecostofaggression.Thenewrelationship is
morelikelyto be durableand crediblebecause it is moreinformal and flexible
and is based on greatercommonality ofperceptions and interests.
From separatelyderivednationalviewpoints,Pakistanand the United
Stateshavesignificant sharedinterests (i.e., economic,strategic and political)in
SouthWestAsia. Bothneed oil; yetanydisruption ofGulfoil suppliesis more
likelyto adverselyaffect Pakistan,whichhas limitedalternate sourcesofenergy
athomeand sourcesofsupplyabroad.TheGulfcountries areimportant markets
forgoods and servicesforbothPakistanand the UnitedStates.Additionally,
Pakistanearnsaboutthreebilliondollarsannuallythroughitsmigrant workers
in the Gulf,an amountwhich is crucialto Pakistan'sbalance of payment
situation. Thegovernments ofthesecountries arelargelypro-West, and theU.S.
would like them to stay that way, to maintain the global statusquoofinfluence
and power.Pakistanhas commonreligious,culturaland historical tieswiththe
peoples of these countries and any trend likely to weaken these ties will be
adversely looked upon by Pakistan. In fact the concept of the Ummah (World
Muslim Community)and its solidarityhas been a great drivingforcein
Pakistan'sforeignpolicy.It has led Pakistanto supportMuslimcauses even
when theyare of no immediateconcernto Pakistanitself.WhileSouthWest
Asia is significantto theU.S. in maintaining globalstrategic balance,Pakistan's
strategic interestin the area arises from the fact that it dependson itsMuslim
neighbors to the west to providedepth for its defense. It also has military links
ofvaryingsize and significance withmostcountriesoftheGulf.
Many in Pakistanrejectthe "steppingstone" thesis of the American
analysts.TheyconsiderAmericanconcernsin SouthWestAsia as overrated and
overstated. They think that world domination is not a feasible proposition for
eitherof thesuperpowers.Warmwaterports,theypointout,are no longera
American
Studies Vol.XXIII,
1985,
International,
April No.1
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96
critical
need ofthetechnologically advancedSovietstate.The variousoil denial
scenariosare also not convincingas the Sovietsare self-sufficient in theiroil
needs.
Evenifthe"steppingstone"thesisis rejecteditcannotbe deniedthatthe
massiveSovietmilitary presencein Afghanistan has upsetthebalanceofpower
ina regionthatcomprisesvitalpolitical,strategic and economicinterests ofboth
Pakistanand theUnitedStates.Additionally forPakistan,apartfromthelegal
and moralaspectsofintervention, theprospectthatAfghanistan mightlose its
bufferstatusorthattheSovietsmightsupportAfghanistan's irridentist claimsis
alarming. has
Afghanistan unilaterally repudiated the Durand Line and beinga
landlockedcountryshe mightseek an outletto theArabianSea.
Pakistanhas no bilateraldisputeswith the Soviet Union. The present
tensionsin Pakistan-Soviet relationsover Afghanistan are not of Pakistan's
seeking. It its
cherishes nonaligned statusand does not wish tobecomeinvolved
in any way in the East-Westconflict.Its responseto the Americanquest for
"strategicconsensus"has beennegative.Itdoes notenvisage,eitherforitselfor
theUnitedStates,theroleofa policemanin theGulf.It doubtsthewisdomand
efficacyoftheRapidDeployment Force(nowcalledtheCentralCommand)and
believesthatthedefenseoftheGulfshouldprimarily be theresponsibility ofthe
Gulfstates.Despitethesedivergences, themutuality of threatfromtheSoviet
militarypresencein Afghanistan has againmadePakistana "strategic state"for
the UnitedStates,and has made the Washingtonconnectionimportant for
Pakistan.Given the natureof the UnitedStatescommitment, including the
vagariesofAmerican partypoliticsand publicopinion,Pakistanhas tobe careful
and watchful in formulating itsresponsesto developments in theregion.
In an importantspeech at Karachi in April,1982, the then U.S. Ambassador
to Pakistan,Mr. RonaldSpiers,pinpointed"fourvulnerabilities" in Pakistan-
the"Indiafactor";
U.S. relations: thenuclearissue;humanrights; and narcotics.
Ofthefourvulnerabilities, narcotics has becomea non-issueas thegovernment
of Pakistanhas extendedthe fullestpossiblecooperationto the U.S. Human
rightswillhopefully whenelectionsareheldin Pakistan,
cease to be an irritant
and the countrywill hopefullyreturnto some formof civilianhome rule.
However,the India factorand the nuclearissue are matterswhich,if not
handledwisely,could becomeproblematic forPakistan-U.S.relations.Differ-
encesofperceptions and policiesmightruinthenew relationship.
American attitudetowarda regionalframework ofsecurity and cooperation
has beenratherambivalent. Conceptually, there can be two possibleapproaches
ormodelsforestablishing peace,security and cooperation in SouthAsia. One is
the traditional"balance of power" approach,which regardspeace to be a
functionof equilibriumof power in a systemas it is weaknessthattempts
aggression.The otheris theOrganiskimodel,19 whichemphasizestheprepon-
deranceof powerin one stateas creatingthe dynamicsof peace. The weaker
stateshave eitherto acceptthe diktatof the preponderant poweror facethe
American
Studies
International,
April , Vol.XXIII,
1985 No.1
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97
schoolgirls.PhotobyPervezA. Kahn
Pakistani
American
Studies
International, No.1
Vol.XXlll,
1985,
April
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American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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99
American
Studies
International, No.1
Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April
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100
NOTES
American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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101
American
Studies
International, , No.1
Vol.XXIII
1985,
April
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American
Studies
International, Vol.XXIII,
1985,
April No.1
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