The Pathological Alliance

Abstract

Few of America’s bilateral ties have been as fraught as those with Pakistan. Since 1958, when the two countries forged a military pact, the relationship has been based on dubious premises, false expectations, periodic quarrels, and episodic tensions. Apart from a small community of scholars and policy makers, few are aware that it was Pakistan, not the United States, which had avidly courted the other. Deft Pakistani diplomacy, almost immediately after the creation of the state, persuaded the naïve administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower that Pakistan could swiftly emerge as a staunch anticommunist ally. British officials, still smarting from the end of their empire in India and keen on retaining influence in the region, disingenuously encouraged this belief.