The strategic imperative: Why Europe cannot afford to sideline Pakistan

The European Union faces a sobering geopolitical reality: its influence in regions, such as the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, that directly affect its security and economic interests is diminishing. The Iranian dossier serves as the clearest example. Once a primary architect of the Iran nuclear deal, the EU now finds itself marginalised as US-Iran backchannel negotiations and regional security calculations dictate the trajectory of the relations with Iran. Europe neither participated in any combat operations nor did it play any diplomatic role in bringing the conflict to its resolution. Brussels has been reduced to the role of a concerned but impotent bystander. Into this vacuum,…