The minimum you must know

Pakistan is an Islamic state of approaching 250 million people. The religion inclines the population and government towards peace.

Pakistan probably has both a cooperative and deterred / deterrent relationship with the United States. Pakistan has a large open border with Afghanistan, which was engaged in a twenty year conflict with the United States. Afghanistan's Osama bin Laden was famously defeated in a suburb of Pakistan as a result.

The United States imposed cooperation on the Pakistani government for a long time. Pakistan used to be a strategically important supply route for bases in Afghanistan, until the United States departed Afghanistan in late 2023. Probably Americans have been and remain deterred there as a result. Muslim countries usually try to exclude vitriolic influences and include peaceful ones.

There used to also be tension between Pakistan and India. There were even military exchanges that surface in the news, and a reason for de-escalation and diplomacy. But a cessation was agreed to through peace talks. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif once said that Pakistan only wants "permanent peace" with India under his leadership. The President of India said the same thing.

Pakistan portrays Kashmir - a beautiful border area claimed by both countries - as unfairly occupied by India. Pakistan closed their air space to Indian airplanes in April 2024 because of a ground incident in Kashmir, where tourists lost their lives. But Pakistani and Indian diplomats are still promising each other permanent peace. So these moments of tension are likely to naturally subside.

Pakistan dominated Bangladesh for the first part of the 20th century, which is nearly part of India. Bangladesh is a sovereign nation surrounded on three sides by India (and the fourth by Myanmar). Bangladesh has enjoyed durable independence and external peace since the middle part of the century but experienced internal lawlessness since then.

Pakistan's large open borders made it an important exodus route for impoverished Afghanistan refugees. Consequently, countries throughout the region and well beyond started to care about Pakistan's prosperity, to halt the flow of people abroad. Pakistan has found widespread diplomatic support at the United Nations for trade as a result. Other countries hope Pakistan will flourish and that the population will remain in place there. That seems to be the way things are developing.

Pakistan has had some internal political instability. But the country is currently at peace internally and externally globally.