Jawayria Malik
Emergence of US as a hegemon in a unipolar world was the result of victory in cold war and the country’s supremacy as the world’s sole superpower remained unquestioned for a very long time. But as the adage goes that every rise has a fall, that moment of fall has also begun for the US as well.
Over the past 15 years, US’ fortunes have changed with dizzying speed. First tremors in that series were the dot-com bust or Y2K bubble and a disputed presidential election in 2000; followed by the destruction of Twin Towers in 2001 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have exacted an enormous blood price – the lives of around 7000 American military personnel – not to mention immense financial expense, estimated to be as high as $6 trillion (£3.9tn). Later in the series, the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay has undermined American ideals, just as the NSA and Wikileaks spying scandals have undercut American diplomacy. George W Bush, a president with a Manichean worldview, was widely seen as over-eager to project America’s military might, without adequately considering the long-term consequences. Barack Obama, who campaigned in 2008 on a platform of extricating America from its unpopular and exhausting wars, has drawn criticism for disengaging too much. Under both presidents, America’s global standing has been diminished. Not only this, polls regularly show that even Americans recognise that their country’s international standing has waned. Among the young, this trend-line has fallen sharply. According to Pew, only 15% of 18-29-year-olds (down from 27% in 2011) believe that America is the “greatest country in the world”.
Paradoxically, over the course of this century Washington has not only lost its fear factor but also its allies. For instance, Turko-Russia relations are becoming comfortable and strategic in nature and the dream of Eurasian renaissance could become a reality in future. Turkey despite being a linchpin of NATO’s defence has opted to befriend Russia; More recently we saw King Salman of Saudi Arabia travelling with a large entourage to Moscow and opening a new era of Russo-Arab relations. One cannot underestimate the fact that KSA-Russia meet is a tectonic shift in international relations. Similarly, Pakistan’s inclination towards Russia signals same facts.
The relations between Pakistan and USA have always been shrouded in ambiguity and mistrust. It is also true that Pakistan relied too much on US but tangibly it accrued very little in return. The only moment of triumph in Pak-US relations came during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when US needed a client state to fight their war and found Pakistan a willing partner. However, immediately after Russian defeat in Afghanistan, Pressler Amendment brought the reality of Pak-US relationship out in the open. Since then, the most significant incident that took place was the terror attacks of September 11, which not only changed the course of the world order but also plagued the future of Pakistan. The then US President George W Bush declared a global war against terror to punish the perpetrators of 9/11 and forced Pakistan to play its role as US’ front line ally in this war. Pakistan joined this global war of US against terrorism and became the ardent victim of terrorism. Despite being major partners in this decade long war on terror, the level of trust kept on declining. In the wake of Trump’s new afghan policy urging Pakistan to double its efforts to fight terrorism, relations between the two countries soured to new lows. As Pakistan felt compelled to respond US with a clear ‘no’ and truly so. Having successfully fought terror within its soil while paying a heavy price for it, Pakistan cannot allow itself to be treated as a scapegoat for other’s failure. If US does not abandon its pressure tactics it might end up losing another ally in the line. May be it is right time for the US diplomacy to take the charge and strike a proper balance to reclaim its lost prestige among comity of nations.
