Abstract:
Pakistan and US have repeatedly come together to forge alliances in the past but have
always faced the problem of disunity of interests featuring repetitively throughout the
history of their relations. The latest misadventure, the Global War on Terror has proved
to be the most challenging of all past engagements, but it hardly comes as a surprise.
The common thread that weaves through all previous Pak-US partnerships is evidenced
boldly once again: the desirability of engagement as pronounced by circumstances.
Hence it appears that there isn't something inherent in US or Pakistan that brings the
two countries together. In fact, it is the inescapable influence of the atmosphere that
hijacks the relationship and dictates it's dimensions. Over all these years, one thing that
hasn't changed in Pak-US relationships is the clear divergence of national interests each
time they came together. This observation is not only spelled out through historical
evidence alone, but also through events that are peculiar to the very recent partnership
of US with Pakistan over War on Terror. It is this very phenomenon of divergence of
interests that this thesis seeks to investigate.
