Central Asia Economic Paper No. 11, December 2013
By Bruno De Cordier
The multi-faceted interaction between Pakistan and the GCC, in which much revolves around the country’s ties with Saudi Arabia, is not merely geopolitical and formal-economic, but has also a strong grassroots dimension through labor migration and pilgrimage.
The close alliances that exist between part of the Pakistani and especially the GCC’s establishments with the US as the neo-imperial core, are all but uncontested both inside their respective societies and elites. The out-come of this smoldering conflict will determine whether the ‘axis of complementarity’ between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could emerge as a center in the multi-polar world order.
