I. Introduction: Perspectives on U.S. Relations with Pakistan
a. U.S. influence near Indian subcontinent
II. Historical Relationship between the U.S., Pakistan, and
III. Factors influencing the relationship between the U.S.,
IV. Balance of issues and future prospects
b. Role of Pakistan and India vis a vis global U.S.
In the modern world, India is the world's largest, and most populous, democracy. It, like the United States, has a Constitution and laws which commit it to free elections as a means of deciding civil and governmental questions. Pakistan, although faced with a far different system of government and the need to continually reassess its hegemony, has been faced with a myriad of problems, both from the standpoint of its foreign policy issues with India, and its place in the larger context of the geopolitical sphere. Both India and Pakistan are located far from the United States, and neither possess the capability to form a direct military threat to the United States.
However, this fact notwithstanding, ". . . and despite an ease of communication between their elites through the medium of the English language the . . . relationship has been more troubled than tranquil, more competitive than cooperative, more characterized by misperceptions and misunderstandings than accurate and considerate attention to the needs and concerns of the other . . ." (Palmer, 1984, p. xiii).
For Pakistan, the central issue has not simply been the place it holds in relation to the United States, but the type of relationship it had with India, and the way that relationship affects the role the United States played within the region as a whole. In fact, one scholar notes that,
. . . the most striking feature of Pakistan's foreign policy was its extremely ambitious goals. Here were two unorganized and impoverished pieces of territory, as yet a nation in name only, seeking to gain security trough strength rather than...