Regional political paradigm shift: Challenges and opportunities for Pakistan

Abstract

With the dawn of the 21st century, a global political paradigmatic shift was witnessed; no longer was Europe considered to be the focal point of geopolitics. Now, all eyes were on the Asian continent; with the brewing Afghan conflict, the arguably rising global hegemony contender China, the convoluted Iranian crisis, rapidly rising economic powers in South-East Asia, the key strategic power of the Indian Ocean and India and, amidst all, the dramatically increasing footprint of the United States. Consequently, as states with opposing interests were ferociously competing for regional dominance, a great degree of political polarization was induced in the regional geopolitical structure, which in turn forced political realignments. Old foes became friends (India and the United States), whereas decades old alliances broke (Pakistan and the United States). This dramatic regional political paradigm shift has forced Pakistan to completely transform its foreign policy, from a pro-western to an eastern/regional approach. This article explores how the changing regional geopolitical dynamics is affecting Pakistan’s foreign policy. It does so by critically analysing the geopolitical realignments in the region and the myriad regional conflicts/crises, while predominantly highlighting their implications for Pakistan. A mix-approach based on descriptive and critical analytical qualitative research methods has been adopted to conduct this study.