U.S. And Chinese Economic Assistance To Pakistan:Case Study Of Impact Of Aid On Public Opinion(2001-2011)

Economic aid has been one of the primary tools of diplomacy of major powers in the post-World War ? era.It is extended with supervening goals of assisting the donor country economically,winning over more allies,cultivating goodwill among the people(in recipient country)and ultimately promoting national interests of the donor country.Two major powers,U.S.and China have provided billions of dollars in economic assistance to lesser developed countries in Asia and Africa.Pakistan is a country which has also received foreign aid from both the U.S.and China over the course of decades.The post-9/11 era stands out strikingly in that respect.Pakistan maintained close relations with the U.S.and China and also received economic aid from the two countries.While American economic aid to Pakistan amounted to nearly $8 billion dollars,China provided half of that or $3.9 billion during 2001-11.For Washington the manifest objective behind aid to Pakistan according to then American ambassador in Islamabad,Nancy Powell,was "aiding Pakistan to strengthen economic,social,political and democratic development" as well as fostering“greater mutual understanding between" people of the two countries.But the U.S.performed poorly on the goal of developing a better understanding and image among Pakistani people.On the other hand,China,even with comparatively lesser economic aid,enjoyed a better persona among the Pakistani masses.A prominent American think-tank,Pew Research Centre conducted extensive surveys across Pakistan to measure public opinion about the U.S.and China from the mid-2000s onward.Polls results showed that the U.S.maintained low public favourability ratings while China was perceived much better in the country.This anomaly between quantity of aid and public opinion provides basic research questions for this study:Despite its massive economic assistance to Pakistan,why was the US not able to win over the hearts and minds of Pakistani people?But why could China,with its relatively lesser amount of aid,gain/maintain highly favourable opinion in Pakistan?Tomes of literature exists on both Pakistan-U.S.and Pakistan-China relations.Though these sources provide quite helpful information and insightful analysis yet they have got some limitations.Majority of literature evaluate these relations from positivist perspective of state-level diplomatic and strategic cooperation.Very few analysts go to the social level dynamics influencing these two sets of relations.Then there is the question of comparison between the two relations.Historically,Pakistan has maintained deep ties with both the U.S.and China.Still,these relations have evolved in fundamentally distinctive patterns:if Pakistan-U.S.relations are termed as a "roller-coaster ride",Islamabad's connection with Beijing is hailed as "all-weather" friendship.Few authors have compared these relations but only with shallow and insubstantial scope.And lastly,greater portion of writings cover the historical progression of these relations during Cold War era.Fewer studies provide quality insight into the post-9/11 developments in Pakistan-U.S.and Pakistan-China relations.Taking such factors into consideration,this study endeavours to contribute to the literature by comparing Pakistan's relations with China and U.S.from new perspective.Accordingly this research synthesises relationship between aid and public opinion as a process and traces the intersubjective dynamics which fundamentally conditioned the translation of aid into better public opinion.The key argument is that the context or backdrop within which aid was provided by U.S.and China to Pakistan functioned as a primary factor in conditioning the potential of economic aid to shape public opinion in the recipient country.Washington provided$8 billion to Pakistan within the context of latter's cooperation in 'war on terror' after September 11,2001 attacks.But that war was not perceived well in Pakistan for various reasons.This factor primarily offset the potential of American aid to cultivate a better understanding among Pakistani people.As a matter of fact,the findings about Pakistan's public opinion were largely dismissive of the U.S.By same token,Chinese aid to Pakistan came within the context of continuation of a decades-old relationship of amity and harmony.Compared with 'war on terror' context of the U.S.aid,that friendly nature of relationship was a rather different backdrop for Chinese economic assistance to Pakistan.Hence,the positive context of aid—even if lesser in relative terms—helped facilitate very favourable public opinion about China in Pakistan.Adding further to key argument,this research contends that the element of 'context'was in return premised on the historical identification of Pakistan with both the donors.Based on historical experiences of its relations with China and U.S.,Pakistan identifies the two countries differently.Pakistan's relations with the U.S.are marked by cycles of ups and downs.On the other hand,Pakistan-China relations have always proceeded in smoothly and amicable manner.As a result,while the U.S.has been identified as a"friend who always betrays",Pakistan-China bond is recognised to be "all-weather" and"higher than Himalayas" etc.Such distinctive and contrasting historical understandings of the two relations reinforced perceptions of people regarding relations with the U.S.and China during 2001-11.Theoretical underpinnings of this research are drawn from intersubjective notions of Constructivist approach.Constructivism emphasises the role of perceptions,ideas and identity in framing social realities or relations.Alexander Wendt's notions within this school of thought inform the central assumptions.As constructivism posits that ideational structures are as important as material ones,this study illustrates how thinking processes impacted the outcomes of two cases in paradoxical manner.Public perceptions of the context of aid proved more critical than its quantity.'War on terror'was perceived negatively at socio-political level in Pakistan from the very beginning.This factor neutralised the possible translation of aid outcomes into favourable public opinion for the U.S.However,in case of Chinese assistance,backdrop of relations was fairly congenial from public viewpoint.It is worth noting that the overall tenor of public perceptions related to immediate settings of relations with China and the U.S.originated from the historical identification of the recipient country vis-a-vis both the donors.In other words,the context of aid is independent variable while historical identification is intervening variable of this case study.The process of aid to public opinion is synthesised under Process-Tracing method.Following the key notion of methodology which recommends investigating "process by which various initial conditions are translated into outcomes",this dissertation highlights the underlying dynamics of the context,perceptions and historical identification.Accordingly,the variables of aid context and historical identification are depicted as 'diagnostic pieces of evidence' because of their input into the outcomes and then analysed in sequence of their respective role.Findings of this research are explanatory in essence.Bu the overall content of study is constituted by both quantitative data and figures as well as qualitative methods and analysis.Both primary and secondary sources of data and information are employed in this research.This research is meaningful for two reasons.First of all,there is little empirical research focusing on relationship between economic aid and public opinion.The role of aid has been mostly analysed within the context of state institutions and interests.But this research undertakes a comparative study intended to explore process of aid impact on public opinion.Secondly,Pakistan's relationship of economic aid with U.S.and China is area worth consideration for investigation.Although some studies make cursory comparative reference to aid quantity but none explores the relative impact of assistance in terms of public opinion.This study goes beyond the dry figures and seeks to understand the effect of aid on public opinion.Last but not the least,it applies constructivist approach to a subject(Pakistan's relations with China and U.S.)which is always viewed from positivist perspective of neorealism.Accordingly,it underscores a pertinent question how intersubjective processes can have a role in shaping significant facets of interstate relations.There are five chapters to this dissertation.The first chapter is an introduction with brief overview of essential details of this study.A prelude to the history of Pakistan's relations with the U.S.and China leads to the puzzle and main research questions.All the important literature related to Pakistan-U.S.and Pakistan-China relations is categorised under literature review section.This section is followed by the main argument and theoretical framework.Moreover,this chapter highlights the methodology and significance of this research.Theoretical framework is the subject of next chapter.Constructivist framework is synthesised in three processes:the evolution of constructivism,key thinker and principle notions of the theory.The third chapter gives an overview of historical settings of Pakistan's relations with U.S.and China in pre-2001 era.Both of relations are divided into phases according to nature of major developments in bilateral relations.In the process,it explicates the distinctive patterns characterising the two sets of relations.While Pakistan's relations with the U.S.followed the cycle of ups and downs,ties between China and Pakistan had stable and harmonious history.The fourth chapter draws a comparison between American and Chinese economic aid to Pakistan and their respective image in the country.First section details the figure of American aid to Pakistan between 2001 and 2011.Then Chinese aid to Pakistan across the same timeframe is sketched.Public opinion of Pakistan regarding both the donors is the subject of second section of this chapter.Surveys of public opinion conducted by Pew Research Centre in Pakistan are the main sources in that respect.At the end,the paradox is highlighted as to why U.S.could develop very little favourable image in the Pakistan even if it provided more economic aid,but why was it vice versa in case of China.The fifth chapter is the final and main chapter of this dissertation.It attempts to answer the paradox of the two case studies.It applies constructivist approach of intersubjectivity to the analysis of research question.Accordingly,the divergence of outcomes is traced from the very beginning of the processes of two relations.It is argued that the process related to aid provision was the reason for this paradox.First,the instant context of economic assistance and then the element of historical identification conditioned the impact of economic aid in both the case but rather differently.