THE post–Cold War security order is unravelling and intersecting global crises have made security central to policymaking.

Rivalries once confined to specific regions now intersect, reshaping conflicts, alliances, and strategic calculations worldwide. Power politics has returned openly, with immediate consequences. Unexpected developments, from Venezuela to Greenland, and shifting partnerships unsettle Washington, Brussels, and NATO capitals. Canada’s initiative of promoting a “new strategic partnership” with China underscores shifting assumptions as Global South and multipolar actors watch power centres realign.

This turbulence reflects a broader recalibration of US strategy as Washington confronts the erosion of its dominance. The Indo-Pacific has emerged as the primary arena of economic, technological, and ideological competition. Often overlooked in Indo-Pacific narratives, Pakistan sits close to these fault lines. Located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean, Islamabad cannot treat these shifts as distant. Evolving alliances and increasingly conditional partnerships quietly reshape Pakistan’s security environment, signalling a subtler but systemic form of influence.

The Indo-Pacific as the centre of global power: Stretching from East Africa to the Pacific Americas, the Indo-Pacific is the epicentre of global power politics, controlling much of the world’s trade, energy flows, and digital connectivity. Maritime chokepoints in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, and the South China Sea are central to economic stability and influence. The shift from “Asia-Pacific” to “Indo-Pacific” is more than semantic. It integrates South Asia and the Indian Ocean into a single strategic theatre, pulling Pakistan’s neighbourhood into intensifying US-China rivalry. US........

© Pakistan Observer