Paradoxes of US-Pakistan Relationship: A Cost-Benefit Assessment of US Aid to Pakistan in Post-9/11 Era

Abstract

The US-Pakistan relationship, patterned on the centre-periphery disharmony, has gone
through cyclical periods of cooperation and estrangement. In this course, the
relationship follows a paradoxical pattern of strategic divergence even during the
period of cooperation. In this context, Pakistan receives economic and military
assistance from the US in return for playing a role in the latter’s geopolitical pursuits.
However, this transactional cooperation carries another paradox pertaining to the
benefits and costs of the US assistance for Pakistan. This research is qualitative in nature
and follows the technique of thick description to identify and analyze various paradoxical
patterns of the US-Pakistan relationship. Data has been collected from both primary and
secondary sources. This article identifies various paradoxes in the US-Pakistan
relationship with focus on the benefits and costs of the US assistance for Pakistan in
post-9/11 period. It argues that disadvantages of the US assistance to Pakistan
outweigh the advantages when the direct and indirect cost incurred by the latter is
taken into account. Therefore, aid based on a long-term US-Pakistan partnership is the
way forward.