Making sense of Trump’s Wonderland

The Trump Administration’s erratic relationship with Pakistan has taken another turn when White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus went on television to suggest that it could be added to the list of countries whose nationals will be banned from entering the United States.

Observers across the border in India said they were surprised that Pakistan had not been named in the first place. “Pakistan has long been a hot-bed of terrorism. The Taliban, Al Qaeda, Islamic State…they are all there,” one said.

Even so, this did not stop the then President-elect Donald Trump handing out lavish praise to Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif in a telephone call last December, Trump saying he was ready to play “any role desired” to resolve Pakistan’s problems.

Despite never having met Sharif he described him as a “terrific guy with a very good reputation for doing amazing work” and that Pakistanis were “one of the most intelligent people”.

But hold on. During his campaign for the White House a few months earlier he described Pakistan as one of the most dangerous countries in the world and he intended to work with India to keep it in check.

This latest version of the relationship resulted in a flurry of advice on how to cope with Pakistan’s “continuing loss of influence with the United States Executive Branch”.

Analyst Sasha Riser-Kositsky urged Sharif to reign in local radical cells or risk losing some or all of the multi-million dollar funding that Washington provides to help Pakistan’s widening current account deficit.

In particular, he must deal with the Haqqani network that is closely associated with the State Intelligence Agency, Riser-Kositsky said. 

Maybe, but it could be equally prudent simply to wait for the Administration’s next change of attitude. After all, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Jalil Abbas Jillani was quoted just the day after Preibus’ statement as saying there were “indications of good relations” between the two countries.

“If you see the Republican Party presidential manifesto, there are two paragraphs on Pakistan in a very positive light,” Jillani said.

For the moment at least, the US president is dealing in broad brush strokes. It is unlikely he has heard of the Haqqani network, and isn’t interested in, or doesn’t understand the intricate problems the Pakistani Government faces in balancing the demands of religious fundamentalists, the ever-restive army and volatile public opinion in dealing with extremists groups.

In this climate, the best advice for President Sharif would be to keep his head down and stay under Trump’s radar until the wild ride of the past two or three weeks begins to slow.

If indeed it does slow. In considering the times we live in, it is hard to argue with veteran British Parliamentarian Ken Clarke, debating that other chaos-generating disaster, Brixet which he likened to Alice’s Wonderland.

“No doubt somewhere there is a hatter holding a tea party and a dormouse in the teapot,” Clarke said.

In 2017, the whereabouts of the hatter is beyond doubt, but for most of the world, it isn’t going to be much of a party.