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33 J. Pol. Stud. 1 (2026)

handle is hein.journals/jlo33 and id is 1 raw text is: © 2026 Shahzad. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons-Attribution- Noncommercial-Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one. Journal of Political Studies Vol. 33, No. 1, January-June, Summer 2026, pp. 01-18 Beyond the Honeymoon: Translating Pakistan's U.S. Rapprochement into Sustainable Strategic Advantage Hafiza Alishba Shahzad M.Phil Scholar, Department of Political Science University of the Punjab, Pakistan Correspondence: alishbash zad532004@gmall.com ABSTRACT The article focuses on the issue of Pakistan being able to turn these short term tactical victories into long term strategic advantages without losing its old time allies in China and Saudi Arabia. Based on recent trends in Pakistani foreign policy and precedents in the strategic behavior of middle power nations, this discussion maintains that the best way ahead of Pakistan is to practice calibrated opportunism, that is, maximizing the quality of the relations at the moment with Received: the U.S. whilst gradually developing alternative relationships. The article reveals February 16, 2026 that the successes of Pakistan are pegged on shaky principles of personality- based diplomacy, internal political resistance, and structural uncertainty xevle7 concerning the mission of the Board. Such measures as institutionalization of 2026&April U.S. gains outside the realms of personal relations, managing Board membership with red lines, expediting implementation of CPEC 2.0 and balancing Published: transparency with both Beijing and Washington and diversified partnerships in Europe, Central Asia and the Gulf need to be considered to create sustainable strategic advantage. Keywords: Pakistan Foreign Policy, Board of Peace, Hedging Strategy, U.S.- Pakistan Relations, Strategic Autonomy, CPEC, Middle Power Diplomacy. Introduction As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif picked up his pen in Davos on January 22, 2026, to kiss the charter of Donald Trump Board of Peace, he was making a gambit (Talmazan et al., 2026). By being the co-positioned nation with the representatives of 18 other nations, most of which were middle-tier powers such as Pakistan, Sharif was gambling that being close to Washington during this time would give Pakistani capable outcomes. Initial returns are favorable. Pakistan gained a traded tariff of 19 per cent on exports to United States, something much more favourable than 25 per cent imposed on India. The Balochistan Liberation Army became the Foreign Terrorist Organization (Board of Peace, 2026). An advanced level of military-to- military interaction was revived after many years of gap. Trump himself talked about how he could assist Pakistan in developing its potential yet vast energy reserves and this phrase implied that a new relationship was in place following the icy years of the Biden administration. 1