Pakistan’s global role

THE nature of Pakistan’s role in global politics is once again the subject of much debate. Several officials are ferrying messages between Iran and the US for an end to the conflict, having helped organise a short-lived peace agreement earlier in the year. Based on these and past events, there are a series of judgement calls that observers make about the Pakistani state and its position in the world order. One set of views sees Pakistan as a client state of the US, that is, one that’s subservient to America’s imperial interests and its immediate allies in the region, the Gulf monarchies. This…