I think democracy is the essence of politics, but the international system is the tragedy of democracy, especially when it comes to the foreign policy of small countries such as Pakistan. Islamabad’s foreign policy is mainly influenced by domestic politics and the international system, which do not allow it to have an independent foreign policy. In 2018, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan did his best to formulate an independent foreign policy, but unfortunately, due to domestic political and international system reasons, Imran lost the decision-making power on April 10, 2022. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been removed from office after a successful no-confidence motion against him. Imran Khan tried to build a new Pakistan that could have an independent foreign policy, but he was not sure that a democracy with American characteristics could not allow him to do so. Our current international system is controlled by the United States, and no country is allowed to do anything against its will, which is why they have created the so-called “democracy”. I think democracy with American characteristics is a project, not a system. As a superpower, he has the right to change the regime of any country in order to achieve his foreign policy goals by violating the international law.
Imran Khan believes that the United States is responsible for regime change in Pakistan, and his statement is supported by Russia. Moscow criticized the US for “another shameless interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs and asserted that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was paying the price for “disobeying” Washington and was punished for his visit to Russia in February. I don’t think the United States can see Pakistan divorce the United States and marry its rival Russia. Khan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, when the Russian leader ordered “special military action” against Ukraine. Imran has no intention of divorcing the United States and marrying Russia, but he is trying to improve Pakistan’s economy because of the domestic situation in Pakistan. Over the past few decades, Pakistan has been facing the worst economic situation in the world. Pakistan is an atomic country, and if it can become economically powerful, then I think the United States will consider its “rising power”, and history has proved that the United States does not see any rising power, especially those states who have close ties to their competitors. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to Russia sparked a famous slogan of 9/11, as Bush admiration has announced, “you are with us or against us.”
What I mean from the tragedy of Pakistan power politics is that now the opposition in Pakistan has succeeded in removing the person who wanted to make an independent foreign policy. Now, there will be a lot of changes in decisions that benefit the United States. This is mainly because all assists of the corrupt Pakistani politicians are abroad, and when people like Imran Khan try to hold them accountable for justice, they always hide in the shadow of them. I think the world now needs not only the reform of the international order, but also a new democratic system, which should not be influenced by the United States and different from its characteristics. The international system is anarchic, where all countries need to save themselves if they want to achieve their own security interests, otherwise the current international system will only lead them to American slavery. Imran Khan is also considered to be a man who wants to set up an Islamic bloc with the help of Turkey. He wants to build Naya (new) Pakistan on the principle of the Medina welfare state. I think these developments are unacceptable for the current international system, which is deeply influenced by the United States.
Being a Pakistani, I would suggest to the new government of Pakistan that you need to realistically identify who is your friend and who is your enemy. Pakistan needs to continue to maintain good relations with every country, whether it is the United States, Russia or China. Pakistan is an independent country, which should be considered from the perspective of building a “great Pakistan” and lifting its people out of poverty, but if the United States has always exerted a strong influence in Pakistan’s foreign policy, these two goals cannot be achieved. I am not saying that Pakistan should not maintain a good relationship with the United States. of course, it must develop a strong relationship on the basis of win-win cooperation, not a zero-sum game in which the United States always wins and Pakistan always loses. Pakistan needs to identify grey areas in its foreign policy and improve it according to the will of the Pakistani people rather than external influence.