Global Power Shift and Foreign Policy Choices for Pakistan

The shifting global order suggests arrival of the world away from the U.S.-led liberal unipolar order. The rise of the rest, notably, the Chinese vision reflected in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has defied the U.S. global hegemony. For example, China’s growing wealth and power, Russia’s resurge and belligerence, Europe’s pursuit for strategic autonomy, India’s rise and its strategic balancing, turmoil in the Middle East and its inclination to Asia suggest a world slipping away from the U.S.-led hegemonic liberal order. The U.S., which once was a lead player, is unlikely to play its global leadership role to manage global governance alone, and even not China is yet close to replacing it. Thus, the argument is that the U.S. global hegemony is waning while the world has entered a new era of bumpier multipolarity with several interdependencies. Consequently, the balancers, not the hedgers and/ or bandwagoners will capitalize on the new world order. Pakistan’s security in this context, is inextricably linked to the global and regional evolving order, which demands the contours of its foreign policy centred on a balancing act.