This week, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia forged a defence pact that redraws the region's security map, and it was triggered by a stunning miscalculation.

The foreign policy of any country is typically complex and often chaotic. You can develop procedures and institutions like the US, but in the end, where the rubber meets the road, a confluence of genuinely held beliefs and lobbies turns every policy decision into a tug of war. Ergo, messy and chaotic.

Two countries, however, stand out for their persistence and single-minded pursuit of their stated (and often unstated) objectives. Throughout their history, India and Israel have earned street cred for their dogged determination and application of brute force in achieving their piecemeal goals. Four reasons why: One, both countries have used historic grievances to gain moral high ground, projecting themselves as the good guys who occasionally have to get their hands dirty. Two, their immense cultural power, now supplemented by their economic or technological power, makes the task of recruiting volunteers easier. Three, despite their vociferous denials and accusations of others doing the same (a la Goebbels), they remain deeply revisionist and expansionist powers. This adds a dark determination and secrecy to their national pursuits. Four, both jumped at the chance of deploying the term terrorism as a dog whistle for Islam and Muslims around the world in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, only because their immediate challengers were Muslims. They benefited immensely from the holistic stigmatisation of around two billion Muslims around the world.

And all of this happened without the help of Netanyahu or Modi. They appear to be the karmic........

© The Express Tribune