I have already written about a possible revitalization of a Pakistan/U.S. relationship via China, but after the recent release of the wikileaks documents many are speculating that the relationship forged between the two countries is less than a perfect or good one. I agree with that assessment. New analysis by the Pew Research Center says that approval ratings of the U.S. overall are not in a good position. Some of the findings include:
- Obama’s policies are not positive with the U.S. so far.
- India is seen as a greater threat to Pakistan than terrorism
- The government in Pakistan is not highly approved
- The economic situation appears bleak to the Pakistani’s
- 84% of Pakistani’s have a favorable approval rating of the Chinese
What many have questioned so far is if the U.S. is doing the right thing in helping Pakistan because they seem to want to fight us and the terrorists. This is not surprising since these groups often use the same strategy of fly by night help the village that was used by the VietCong during the Vietnam War. If you are going to have groups that provide those kinds of services and your economy is in shambles of course you will support them. I will not recommend remedies for Pakistan, but I think maybe some type of multilateral forum would be nice.
Further Reading:
Pew Study
http://pewglobal.org/2010/07/29/concern-about-extremist-threat-slips-in-pakistan/
