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Getting the Most Out of Pakistan

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Posted: January 12th, 2018

By Daniel Hoffman

Hoffman served as a three-time station chief and a senior executive clandestine service officer with assignments included tours of duty in the former Soviet Union, Europe, and war zones in the Middle East and South Asia. Hoffman also served as director of the CIA's Middle East and North Africa Division. He is currently a national security analyst with Fox News.

The Trump administration’s decision to suspend security assistance to the Pakistani military pending “decisive action” against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network represents an attempt to hold Pakistan accountable. While leaders in Islamabad are highly unlikely to shift their national security strategy to align with U.S. interests, the administration still might see some gain for its Afghanistan strategy by preserving an effective channel to maintain Pakistani cooperation on counterterrorism.

Having served as a station chief in South Asia and worked extensively in the region, I came to appreciate that U.S. bilateral engagement with Pakistan resembles more of a Venn Diagram rather than a relationship of the sort that we enjoy with our closest allies: in some areas, U.S. and Pakistani interests coincide, while in others, they diverge.

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