December 26, 2011

U.S. Must Treat Pakistan as More than a Rainy Day Girlfriend

Pakistan is drawing up what Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani calls “red lines” for a new relationship with the U.S. that protects his country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

As the U.S. comes to grips with the reality that its broad security partnership with Pakistan is over, officials hope to salvage a more limited counterterrorism alliance though they acknowledge this will complicate their ability to launch attacks against extremists and move supplies into Afghanistan. As Pakistan re-evaluates the entire relationship an opposition MP there sums up local anger: “We feel like the U.S. treats Pakistan like a rainy-day girlfriend.”

What’s the Big Idea?

In one of the most visible signs of rising anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, tens of thousands protested in Lahore and Peshawar this month. On Sunday in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, at least 100,000 people rallied to support Imran Khan, a cricket celebrity and rising opposition politician who is outspoken in his criticism of the drone strikes and ties with the U.S.

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