Pakistan’s Strategic Balancing between the U.S. and China in the 21st Century

Abstract

Growing strategic competition between China and the United States has become one of the most prominent characteristics of modern international environment where middle and regional powers are forced to reevaluate their foreign policy priorities and alignment of their strategies. Based on the geostrategic positioning, the longtime security relationship with China and the important historic relationship with the United States, Pakistan is faced with the challenging task of juggling its interests among the two world superpowers. This paper reviews the issue of strategic balancing behavior by Pakistan in the twenty first century and evaluates how the political, economic and security aspects influence the foreign policy decisions of this country. The study design is a qualitative research design, where a documentary analysis of academic literature, government reports, and international strategic evaluations is used. Neoclassical Realism directs the research as it describes the interaction between systemic pressures created through great-power competition and domestic factors in shaping the state behavior. The results reveal that Pakistan has incorporated a pragmatic balancing policy which will maximize economic benefits, maintain security cooperation and a diplomatic flexibility to the increased competition between the U.S and China. Although China has emerged to be the main strategic and economic partner of Pakistan in terms of efforts like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) the United States is still a significant figure in numerous elements of trade, regional stability, financial aid and foreign relations. The paper also reveals that Pakistan avoids side-by-side orientation towards either of the two powers and resorts to adopting a multidimensional foreign policy style aimed at securing the national interests and strategic autonomy. The study is able to conclude that the future success of foreign policy in Pakistan will lie in the capacity of the nation to maintain a balanced relationship between the two powers coupled with its capacity to well handle security issues in the region and the coming geopolitical trends. The paper makes a contribution to the existing literature of the strategic balancing, great-power competition and the South Asian foreign policy.