Understanding the Decline of Pakistan-US Alliance and the Growing Influence of China in Pakistan

Roy Anthony  Rogers A/L Peter Rogers; Noraiz Arshad; Iftikhar Ali

doi:10.31436/id.v31i1.1936

Authors

Roy Anthony Rogers A/L Peter Rogers Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya
Noraiz Arshad Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya
Iftikhar Ali Department of Politics and International Studies, Karakoram International University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/id.v31i1.1936

Abstract

This article examines Pakistan's strategic options in order to understand its puzzling behavior, which can be seen as a hedging strategy against the uncertain future of China-US relations in South Asia. The study sheds light on Pakistan's perplexing conduct towards its alliances with China and the US under the theoretical framework elucidated by Kuik Cheng-Chwee (2008). On one hand, Pakistan fears becoming excessively dependent on the US for security and economic support, particularly as India and the US forge a stronger alliance to counter China. On the other hand, it worries about getting enmeshed in the growing influence of China in Pakistan, which could come at the cost of its financial, conventional military, and strategic ties to the US. The study maintains that Pakistan is striving to position itself as a crucial security partner of the US in the fight against terrorism, which is currently a fading alliance, and as a strategic ally of rising China, an idea that has received scant attention in academic scholarship.

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Author Biographies

Roy Anthony Rogers A/L Peter Rogers, Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya

Roy Anthony Rogers, PhD, is a senior lecturer with the Department of International and Strategic Studies having joined the department in 2001 and served as the Head of the Department from 2012 till September 2020. He has also taught at the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College (MAFSC) and the Malaysian Defence armed Forces College (MDAF). He has a Master in Strategic and Defence Studies (M.SDS) from the University of Malaya, and in 2012 he obtained Ph. D from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). His research interests are government and politics of Central Asian republics and human rights conditions in Xinjiang. His area of specialisation includes Political Science, International Relations (Theories of International Relations) and History (China and Central Asia). He can be reached at rarogers@um.edu.my

Noraiz Arshad, Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya

Noraiz Arshad is a PhD candidate at the Department of International and Strategic Studies at the University of Malaya. He is writing a thesis on the decline of Pakistan–US alliance and the rise of China’s influence in Pakistan. He can be reached at ava170054@siswa.um.edu.my/noraizarshad@gmail.com