| Summary/Abstract |
It makes sense that the United States has significantly downgraded relations with Pakistan since the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The anger in Washington toward Islamabad for its support of the Afghan Taliban during the US war was palpable and justified. Absent a need to rely on Pakistan to access Afghanistan to prosecute the war, and with the broader decline of counterterrorism as a priority, the US only sees the need for a minimum viable bilateral relationship. The US shift to near peer competition has exacerbated the distance as Pakistan’s close relationship with China—now the preeminent US national security concern—is juxtaposed with US efforts to foster closer ties with Pakistan’s rival, India, as a regional counterweight to China.
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