The Carter administration’s Pakistan policy before and after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Author(s)
Advisor
Miller, OwenDate
2020-10Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
The United States and Pakistan’s bilateral relationship has seen complex
periods of converging and diverging interests that have been shaped by security
concerns. The first two years of the Carter administration’s relations with Pakistan
saw a divergence of interests primarily due to the United States’ pursuit of its
nuclear non-proliferation foreign policy. This study uses archival material to
analyze the diplomatic and political discourse which unfolded in Washington
D.C. and Islamabad during the enforcement of this policy. The study underlines
that policymakers are at times divorced from the experiences of diplomats on
ground and highlights the complexity behind state craft, the art of diplomacy and
the geopolitical and the geostrategic contours of the United States and Pakistan’s
bilateral relationship. The Carter administration’s Pakistan policy vis-à-vis nuclear nonproliferation was only side stepped after a number of external factors in the form of regional events took place. These included, the Iranian revolution, the siege of Mecca, the rise in politicized Islam, the impact these events had on the domestic public opinions of both nations and last but not least, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. The multiple security implications of all these events led President
Carter to build the foundation for the alliance with Pakistan which would succeed
in driving the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan.
Keywords
Nuclear non-proliferationSoviet invasion
The government of Pakistan
The United States of America