What if Pakistan were the world’s sole superpower? Would it be any different from the United States today? Would it treat the less powerful in the same way as Pakistanis currently expect to be treated by the US? Would Pakistan stand up for freedom and justice? However, improbable such a scenario might be, these hypothetical questions allow us to think more clearly about power, morality and the behaviour of states.
For Pakistan, having a more coherent perspective on the world and how it works is imperative now more than ever. The country has been at loggerheads with the most powerful state in the world. That power is now at the beginning of its decline. What lies ahead is a world order in which America will be one of many great powers.
Pakistan, being a neighbour of two states that will undoubtedly be big players in the emerging global system, is struggling to find a meaningful place among this transition. A rational, structured way of viewing the world is necessary for finding that place. Unfortunately, the discourse in Pakistan is disproportionately grievance-oriented.
It centers self-servingly on how things ought to be, without much consideration of the responsibilities of Pakistan toward shaping that ideal reality. An exaggerated sense of sorrow makes it difficult to see how things really are. It blurs the other side of the image, the side that shows that in many instances, Pakistan is the sinner.
In certain relationships, Pakistan has the upper hand. For example: Pakistan’s behavior towards Afghanistan reflects its complaints about how the US treats it. By no mere coincidence, Pakistan is as disliked in Afghanistan as the US is disliked in Pakistan.
So, how would Pakistan behave if it were the world’s sole superpower? Based on its track record today, which includes a heavy-handed uprising in Baluchistan and the use of insurgents to install a favorable government in Afghanistan, it would be difficult to see Pakistan being a sign of light unto the world. Most probably, Pakistan, with a political culture that decidedly lacks control and values, would fail to meet the expectations it has set for others, including the US.
Concerns about Pakistan’s foreign policy might be dismissed as irrelevant as if ethics should govern the actions of only the absolutely strong.
Pakistan has an opportunity and a responsibility to help solve the Afghan problem, to bring an end to the misery of Afghans suffering under decades of war. International politics need not be a zero-sum game. In Afghanistan, Pakistan can find a way to win but that victory cannot be of its alone.
