While the United States of America (USA) instrumentalized the Russia-Ukraine War to build an anti-Moscow bloc that would strengthen the sense of togetherness in trans-Atlantic relations; on the other hand, it surrounds China in the Asia-Pacific through structures such as QUAD and AUKUS and strives to build an anti-Beijing bloc. Therefore, it is possible to state that the USA focuses on two rivals globally. These; China, the main rival of its hegemony, and Russia, which is the traditional other of the West. In this sense, the Washington administration presents its geopolitical struggle against Moscow and Beijing to the world with a narrative such as the competition between democracies and autocracies over values and tries to increase the legitimacy of its own global leadership.
One of the developments reflecting the efforts of the Washington administration to position itself as the leader of the bloc of democracies is the “Democracy Summit” meetings initiated by Joe Biden after he became the US President. The first of these meetings was held in 2021. The “Second Democracy Summit” was held in Washington on March 28-30, 2023. The most striking detail about the summit is Biden’s announcing a $690 million financing support to support democracies.[1]
The countries that were not invited to a program that included such huge supports, on the other hand, are the actors that come to the fore with their quest for a multipolar world order, although they are criticized by the Washington administration for being authoritarian.
However, another noteworthy detail about the summit is that Pakistan did not attend the meetings attended by 120 countries. As a matter of fact, the approach of the Islamabad administration, which decided not to attend the summit despite being invited, is very important.
At this point, first of all, Pakistan’s statement about not participating in the summit should be mentioned. In the announcement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, it was stated that the Islamabad administration thanked Washington for the invitation and it was stated that although it was emphasized that Pakistan would continue to work with the USA and other participating countries to strengthen democracies, they would not attend the summit. The reason for the non-participation was not disclosed.[2] For this reason, it is essential to discuss the reasons behind the decision.
First of all, it should be reminded that the Islamabad administration was not invited to the summit in 2021. Although it is known that the Imran Khan Government was in charge in Pakistan during the aforementioned period, and that Khan ignored the Western factor while implementing pro-Chinese and Russian policies, the USA evaluated Pakistan as one of the actors that was not close to him and considered it an “authoritarian state”. It can be argued that Islamabad noted that it wanted to drag it to the ” status and that despite the change of government, Washington’s marginalizing attitude in 2021 was effective in this decision.
As it is known, in April 2022, Khan could not get a vote of confidence as a result of the voting held in the Pakistani Parliament, and a change of power took place in the country. The government, led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif, is careful to implement a versatile and multidimensional foreign policy that observes the balances between power centers.
With the Sharif era, it was seen that Islamabad focused on restoring relations with the West. In fact, the West is also pleased with this situation. However, it can be stated that not being invited in 2021 was effective in the decision not to participate in 2023. It is also possible to read this situation as a reflection of Pakistan’s state mind.
Secondly, the nature of the restoration process in Pakistan’s relations with the West should be mentioned. While Pakistan is trying to overcome its economic problems by carrying out loan processes with the International Monetary Fund; The terrorist organization Tehrik-i-Taliban intensifies its search for cooperation with the United States in the fight against Pakistan (TTP). This situation is also reflected in Islamabad’s relations with the European Union (EU). As a matter of fact, the EU decided to remove Pakistan from the list of high risk countries in terms of trade on 29 March 2023.[3] However, while Pakistan is repairing its relations with the West; It is extremely sensitive to stay away from a relationship that can be interpreted as one-sided dependency, and therefore considers the East-West balance as a part of its multi-faceted diplomacy understanding.
In this context, while Islamabad develops its relations with Russia in the energy dimension; On the other hand, it cooperates with its neighbor China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, especially in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). As a matter of fact, infrastructure investments on the CPEC route, especially the Gwadar Port Project, are considered extremely important by Islamabad for the future of Pakistan.
As it can be understood, as part of its multi-faceted foreign policy understanding, Pakistan does not want to be seen side by side with the USA, which wants to build a bloc against Russia and China through the narrative of democracy, in the dimension of geopolitical polarization. In other words, the Islamabad administration wishes to improve its relations with Western capitals, especially Washington; however, while doing this, it is also determined to maintain its relations with Beijing and Moscow.
In short, strengthening global interaction and communication and, accordingly, developing mutually beneficial win-win relations with all states constitute the most important priority of Pakistan in foreign policy. In other words, Islamabad is not about the rise of blockade at the global level; advocates the building of cooperation bridges and acts accordingly.
As a result, the USA instrumentalizes values such as democracy in order to achieve its geopolitical goals regarding the global system. Therefore, the Second Democracy Summit was held on 28-30 March 2023 under the leadership of the Biden administration. One of the most striking details about the summit is Pakistan’s decision not to participate. In this decision, the fact that Islamabad was not invited to the summit in 2021 and that such meetings in the current situation serve to blockade rather than increase global cooperation were decisive. Therefore, although the Sharif administration wanted to improve its relations with the West in accordance with its multi-faceted foreign policy understanding, it also took into account the Beijing-Moscow balance. This can be interpreted as a situation in line with the nature of Pakistan’s foreign policy understanding.
[1] “Biden Kicks off Summit for Democracy with $690m Funding Pledge”, Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/29/biden-kicks-off-summit-for-democracy-with-690m-funding-pledge, (Date of Accession: 30.03.2023).
[2] “Pakistan Says It Will Skip U.S. Democracy Summit”, RFERL, https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-skip-democracy-summit-/32339838.html, (Date of Accession: 30.03.2023).
[3] “Pakistan Welcomes EU’s Move to Remove It from High-Risk Countries List”, Dunya News, https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/711175-Pakistan-welcomes-EU/%27s-move-to-remove-It-from-high-risk-countries-List, (Date of Accession: 30.03.2023).
