For the past 20 years, Pakistan has been a major player in the war in Afghanistan. The tragic, rapid fall of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the restoration of Taliban rule “reflects the failure of Washington’s approach,” which allowed Islamabad to maintain its role as “the Taliban’s most important foreign sponsor,” Daniel Markey writes. Now that U.S. troops have left, it may be time for a reckoning. “The United States should lower its ambitions with Pakistan to transactional cooperation” on a limited set of issues, Markey argues. “If a deeper bilateral relationship is to be built, . . . the initiative will have to come first from the Pakistani side.”

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-09-09/americas-perennial-pakistan-problem?utm_medium=newsletters&utm_source=fabackstory&utm_content=20211017&utm_campaign=FA%20Backstory_101721_TheTroubled%20U.S.-Pakistani%20Alliance&utm_term=fa-backstory-2019

The U.S.-Pakistani relationship has fluctuated over the decades, from a strong bond during the Cold War to a period of estrangement in the 1990s. But after the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan, the United States needed Pakistan on its side. “A collapse of Pakistan . . . would cripple the global campaign against Islamist terrorism,” Anatol Lieven wrote in 2002. But bolstering the country’s military leadership with U.S. aid could backfire in the long run, Sumit Ganguly warned. “Washington cannot afford to ignore the mismanagement in Islamabad.”