Neuroroyalism is a new word that has gained currency in recent times. It focuses on making public policy that does not necessarily aim to bring about national gain. A line of thinking that has emerged in recent years among political scientists places a lot of emphasis on the pursuit of personal gain and gain of close associates. Among the leading exponents of this point of view are two political scientists who work at the institutions based in or near Washington. Abraham L Newman teaches in Georgetown University in downtown Washington while Stacie Goddard is at Wellesley College.

While their work is focused on policymaking in the era of President Donald Trump, what they have focused on applies to other countries that look at Washington for guidance. Later in this article I will apply their thinking to the case of today's Pakistan.

In the United States, "foreign policy has become a tool to channel money and status to Mr. Trump and his closest associates," the two academics wrote in an opinion piece they contributed to The New York Times. "Rather than compete with rivals, Mr. Trump is willing to collude with them in order to advance his court's parochial interests." The royalist reference has drawn attention because it captures the president's imperious style of governing, his frequent policy reversals and his contempt for longstanding international rules that govern the current world order.

Filipe Campante of Johns Hopkins University argues that Trump's approach to governance is bad for the economy. "Policymaking is no longer about being more competitive in the marketplace, but about connections. The winners are not........

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