The ongoing trade war between China and the United States will have consequences for Pakistan. It was in the late 1960s when then Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto fell out with President Ayub Khan who developed close relations with the United States. The relations were so close, that on his state visit to Washington, then President John F Kennedy want to receive Ayub Khan at the airport when his plane landed.

This is hardly ever done by the American president. But Bhutto was of the view that close relations with China was of great advantage for Pakistan. China was one of Pakistan's four neighbours. The other three were Afghanistan, India and Iran. The first two had difficult relations with Pakistan. Bhutto was of the view that working with China, Pakistan could balance India's economic and military might.

History proved Bhutto to be right. That provides me with the context to discuss the split between China and the United States. Whether that was his intention or not, United States President Donald Trump used trade policy to win what he saw as the growing battle between his country and China.

After the end of the Second World War, America had fought a "cold war" against what was then the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR. That conflict lasted for almost half a century — from 1945 to 1991. In 1991, the USSR collapsed with its constituent parts gaining independence. The largest of these was Russia which focused first on consolidating its political system and economy. It was only with the arrival of Vladimir Putin as president that Russia once again arrived on the global........

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