ABSTRACT
Currently, much interest is focused on Pakistan. This is not just because of the myriad challenges it confronts. It is also because of its immense potential. A nuclear-armed nation, with an overwhelmingly Muslim-majority population, it is often in the news, but, alas, almost always for the wrong reasons. With an area of nearly 800,000 sq km and a population estimated at 208 million, it has a gross domestic product of US $885 billion, and an abundance of natural resources whose extent has not yet been fully ascertained. It straddles the Middle East and South Asia, and is a conduit between two volatile and politically significant regions. It borders India and the People’s Republic of China, Asia’s two foremost protagonists, as well as Afghanistan, a cauldron of incendiary politics. Pakistan itself has its own political uncertainties to deal with, while being intermittently rocked by civil commotion. Its strategic location, untapped resources and domestic inscrutabilities make it an interesting field for certain activities of the world’s most powerful nations, and in return, demands an intricate global role for that country to perform three basic foreign policy roles: first, protection of its sovereignty; second, accessing resources for its own development; and third, ensuring sufficient space for itself for policy manoeuvrability.
