After years of strategic drift, 2025 has placed Pakistan in a rare sweet spot where its allies and partners see it as a country that offers them things they value and need.
Uzair M. Younus
December 29, 2025
Pakistan had been strategically adrift — crippled by economic mismanagement, plagued by political instability, and viewed by allies and partners as a state whose problems needed to be managed lest they create wider instability. Simply put, Pakistan was broadly seen as the
sick man of South Asia.
By the time 2025 rolled in, the country‘s polycrisis was still raging. But fast forward a few months, and the year’s outlook shifted to one of opportunities, with an emerging geopolitical reality in the region.
Much like historical geopolitical openings that have come Pakistan’s way, this moment also arose from a confluence of regional shocks and strategic recalculations that reshaped how power and security are being reassessed around the world, particularly in West Asia and the Middle East.
Two developments in particular created a unique window for Pakistan: the first was the Trump administration’s post-ceasefire plan for Gaza. Despite being contested over its details, the initiative compelled regional actors to confront an uncomfortable truth: the United States was prepared to underwrite a new regional security and political architecture that would require regional powers to take greater ownership of their own security needs.
Washington’s strategic evolution — or retreat, as referred to by some — is not unique to the Middle East; from Europe to East Asia, the Trump administration wants its allies and partners to take greater ownership of their own security.
The second and more consequential event occurred when Israel’s increasingly belligerent actions culminated in Tel Aviv’s strikes on Doha. This served as an inflexion point for Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, and underscored a hard reality: advanced air defences, American guarantees, and quiet normalisation channels will not be enough to secure these countries against an increasingly radical and belligerent Israel. In addition, the United States, despite being Israel’s patron, would do very little to stop rogue Israeli actions.
In that environment, regional actors began to look anew at who could actually deliver kinetic capability at scale, under pressure, and without collapsing politically or operationally. And this is where Pakistan entered the scene.
This opening, however, would not have materialised without Pakistan’s military performance against India in a short but intense conflict earlier in the year. Widely written off as overstretched and hollowed out by years of economic and political crises, Pakistan demonstrated that it retained a credible, modern, and integrated conventional war-fighting capability. Its air force, in particular, showcased operational proficiency and command-and-control sophistication that surprised foreign observers.
I sure got a mouth and use it wisely, unlike many people who speak it from sun never shines.
