<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Publishing DTD v1.3 20210610//EN" "https://jats.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/1.3/JATS-journalpublishing1-3.dtd">
<article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.3" xml:lang="en">
<front>
<journal-meta>
  <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">67</journal-id>
  <journal-id journal-id-type="short-title">gfpr</journal-id>
  <journal-id journal-id-type="doi">10.31703/gfpr</journal-id>
  <journal-title-group>
    <journal-title>Global Foreign Policies Review</journal-title>
    <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">gfpr</abbrev-journal-title>
  </journal-title-group>
  <issn publication-format="print">2788-502X</issn>
  <issn publication-format="electronic">2788-5038</issn>
  <self-uri xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com"/>
  <publisher>
    <publisher-name>Humanity Publications</publisher-name>
    <publisher-loc>Pakistan</publisher-loc>
  </publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
  <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">395755</article-id>
  <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.31703/gfpr.2025(VIII-II).07</article-id>
  <article-id pub-id-type="other" specific-use="submission-id">6222</article-id>
  <article-version article-version-type="publisher">1.0</article-version>
  <article-categories>
    <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
      <subject>article</subject>
    </subj-group>
  </article-categories>
  <title-group>
    <article-title xml:lang="en">Between the Balancing and Hedging? Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Behavior amid the US-China Power Struggle</article-title>
  </title-group>
<contrib-group>
  <contrib contrib-type="author" seq="1" corresp="yes">
    <name>
      <surname>Waqar</surname>
      <given-names>Azhar</given-names>
    </name>
    <role vocab="credit" vocab-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/" vocab-term="Conceptualization" vocab-term-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/contributor-roles/conceptualization/">Conceptualization</role>
    <role vocab="credit" vocab-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/" vocab-term="Writing – original draft" vocab-term-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/contributor-roles/writing-original-draft/">Writing – original draft</role>
    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/>
    <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"/>
  </contrib>
  <contrib contrib-type="author" seq="2">
    <name>
      <surname>Uzzaman</surname>
      <given-names>Muhammad Saeed</given-names>
    </name>
    <role vocab="credit" vocab-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/" vocab-term="Writing – review &amp; editing" vocab-term-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/contributor-roles/writing-review-editing/">Writing – review &amp; editing</role>
    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"/>
  </contrib>
  <aff id="aff1">
    <label>1</label>
    <institution-wrap>
      <institution>&amp; Lecturer, National University of Modern Languages, Rawalpindi</institution>
    </institution-wrap>
    <named-content content-type="author-role">PhD Scholar</named-content>
    <addr-line>Punjab</addr-line>
    <country>Pakistan</country>
  </aff>
  <aff id="aff2">
    <label>2</label>
    <institution-wrap>
      <institution>Department of International Relations, National University of Modern Languages, Rawalpindi</institution>
    </institution-wrap>
    <named-content content-type="author-role">Assistant Professor</named-content>
    <addr-line>Punjab</addr-line>
    <country>Pakistan</country>
  </aff>
</contrib-group>
<author-notes>
  <corresp id="cor1">Corresponding Author: Azhar Waqar, PhD Scholar &amp; Lecturer, National University of Modern Languages, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.</corresp>
<fn fn-type="COI-statement" id="fn-coi">
  <p>The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.</p>
</fn>
<fn fn-type="ethics-statement" id="fn-ethics">
  <p>This study did not require formal ethics approval.</p>
</fn>
<fn fn-type="data-availability-statement" id="fn-data">
  <p>Data sharing is not applicable to this article.</p>
</fn>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub" date-type="pub" publication-format="electronic">
  <day>30</day>
  <month>06</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection">
  <month>06</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date date-type="pub" publication-format="print">
  <day>24</day>
  <month>06</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
  <volume>8</volume>
  <issue>2</issue>
  <season>Spring</season>
  <fpage>56</fpage>
  <lpage>66</lpage>
  <history>
    <date date-type="accepted">
      <day>24</day>
      <month>06</month>
      <year>2025</year>
    </date>
  </history>
<funding-group>
  <funding-statement>
<p>The authors received no specific funding for this work.</p>
  </funding-statement>
</funding-group>
<permissions>
  <copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
  <copyright-holder>Humanity Publications</copyright-holder>
  <license license-type="open-access" xml:lang="en" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
    <license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.</license-p>
  </license>
</permissions>
<self-uri content-type="text/html" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/article/between-the-balancing-and-hedging-pakistans-foreign-policy-behavior-amid-the-uschina-power-struggle"/>
<self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/VAXVz1DkXy.pdf"/>
<supplementary-material id="suppl-pdf" content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/VAXVz1DkXy.pdf">
  <label>PDF</label>
  <caption>
    <title>Full Text PDF</title>
  </caption>
</supplementary-material>
  <abstract>
    <p>Amid the US-China power struggle, this paper examines Pakistan&apos;s foreign policy challenges, its economic and military reliance on both great powers. Using structural realism, the analysis considers how great power competition drives states to either balance against rivals or adopt a hedging strategy to prevent dependence on a single power. Focusing on a mixed-method approach, this study employs an integrative review technique to analyze the data. Findings indicate that Pakistan holds a distinct status as an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and an ironclad friend of China, while also aligning with the US as a major non-NATO ally. Additionally, the expanding strategic partnership between the US and India is likely to impact Pakistan&apos;s foreign policy. The paper presents two potential scenarios: one in which Pakistan adopts a balancing strategy, and another in which it pursues a hedging strategy. Ultimately, Pakistan&apos;s efforts to secure its interests involve striking a balance between power and maintaining neutrality through hedging, reflecting its strategic dilemma.</p>
  </abstract>
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author-keywords">
  <kwd>Great Power</kwd>
  <kwd>Balancing</kwd>
  <kwd>Hedging</kwd>
  <kwd>Strategic Dilemma</kwd>
</kwd-group>
  <custom-meta-group>
    <custom-meta><meta-name>views</meta-name><meta-value>77</meta-value></custom-meta>
    <custom-meta><meta-name>downloads</meta-name><meta-value>130</meta-value></custom-meta>
    <custom-meta><meta-name>html-views</meta-name><meta-value>0</meta-value></custom-meta>
    <custom-meta><meta-name>google-scholar-citations</meta-name><meta-value>0</meta-value></custom-meta>
    <custom-meta><meta-name>crossref-citations</meta-name><meta-value>0</meta-value></custom-meta>
  </custom-meta-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
  <sec id="sec-intro">
    <title>Content</title>
    <p>Amid the US-China power struggle, this paper examines Pakistan&apos;s foreign policy challenges, its economic and military reliance on both great powers. Using structural realism, the analysis considers how great power competition drives states to either balance against rivals or adopt a hedging strategy to prevent dependence on a single power. Focusing on a mixed-method approach, this study employs an integrative review technique to analyze the data. Findings indicate that Pakistan holds a distinct status as an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and an ironclad friend of China, while also aligning with the US as a major non-NATO ally. Additionally, the expanding strategic partnership between the US and India is likely to impact Pakistan&apos;s foreign policy. The paper presents two potential scenarios: one in which Pakistan adopts a balancing strategy, and another in which it pursues a hedging strategy. Ultimately, Pakistan&apos;s efforts to secure its interests involve striking a balance between power and maintaining neutrality through hedging, reflecting its strategic dilemma.</p>
  </sec>
</body>
<back>
<fn-group content-type="conflict-of-interest">
  <title>Conflict of Interest</title>
  <fn fn-type="conflict">
<p>The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<fn-group content-type="ethics-statement">
  <title>Ethics Statement</title>
  <fn fn-type="ethics">
<p>This study did not require formal ethics approval.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<fn-group content-type="data-availability">
  <title>Data Availability</title>
  <fn fn-type="data-availability-statement">
<p>Data sharing is not applicable to this article.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<app-group>
  <app id="app-suppl">
    <title>Supplementary Materials</title>
<supplementary-material id="suppl-pdf" content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/VAXVz1DkXy.pdf">
  <label>PDF</label>
  <caption>
    <title>Full Text PDF</title>
  </caption>
</supplementary-material>
  </app>
</app-group>
</back>
</article>