Reassessing Pakistan’s Geopolitical Orientation from the Post-Cold War Era to 9/11

Abstract

The end of Cold War, with the demise of Soviet Union, has led to the restructuring of superpower priorities in the international system. It was due to Pakistan's geo-strategic position during the Cold War that its foreign policy direction was shaped by the binary geography of Cold War in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). However, with the dawn of the Post -Cold War, Pakistan has gained much importance in geographical as well as geopolitical conditions of the world. Thus, the new decade of the 1990s began with Islamabad's losing their chief strategic allies. The U.S.-Pakistan differences were expressed during in Pressler amendment with the United States. Whereas, with the emergence of Central Asian Republics (CARs), it was supposed to offer Pakistan the opportunity of new strategic alliances.  The New War on global terrorism especially after 11^th September 2001, radically transformed geopolitical and geostrategic environment of the IOR and significance of Pakistan has increased. It is against this backdrop that research article intends to explore the strategic dimensions of Pakistan in the post -Cold War period with its relations to emerging states of   CARs and the U.S., especially in the last decade of twentieth century.