The Dynamics of Pakistan-US Relations after US Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

There are no friends and foes in international relations and world politics; the national interest defines the relations between two states. However, in the case of powerful and inferior, it is the power that dominates the inferior to execute its national interest, this concept is explained under dependency theory which says how developed nations use undeveloped nations for their interest. Pakistan-US relations are a manifestation of this where US national interest and Pakistan’s strategic importance define the relations which are beyond two binaries of friendship and foe rather it's a complex web. The Pakistan-US relationship swings between fight and flight, hot and cold, love and hate, marriage and divorce, highs and lows in which the powerful i.e. US exercises its hegemon and inferior i.e. Pakistan is bound to do what they say. The paper explores the complex nature of US-Pakistan relations particularly after the withdrawal of Afghanistan in 2021 using dependency theory to analyze how powerful exercises its hegemony on weaker by exploiting its vulnerabilities.

Keywords:  Dynamics, Pakistan-US Relations, US Withdrawal, Afghanistan