ASIAN Journal of International Peace & Security (AJIPS)

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

Muhammad Riaz Shad — 2024-07-15

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.

Politics of Islamophobia in Western Society and its Socio-Cultural Implications

A. Z. Hilali — 2024-07-15

The term “Islamophobia” refers to actions motivated by hate, hostility and prejudice towards any individual or group identity. It represents a new socio-cultural order in Western society that operates at cognitive, cultural and structural levels. Consequently, it has become common in the Western world to target Muslims based on race and religion. Islamophobia leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance, manifesting as threats, harassment and abuse towards Muslims in both online and offline contexts. Thus, the notion of Islamophobia is associated with discrimination against Muslims and has risen rapidly over the last three decades in Western society, largely through social media and other means. This issue is an intrusive element of contemporary multicultural Western society. In this discourse, Islam is symbolized as a “systemic problem,” which problematizes Muslims as a security threat to the socio-political and cultural continuity of Western society. Nonetheless, the West must remember that discrimination and unfair treatment towards Muslims will create fear among minorities, ultimately harming peace and harmony in society and perpetuating unending bigotry and intolerance.