“The winner in war is also a loser” Imran Khans utrikespolitiska vision och ‘den nya vägen’ för Pakistan

Sammanfattning: Understanding foreign policy changes has been an important part of academic research for decades. During the Cold War, when national security was at its most uncertain, we saw a focus on recognizing the patterns that could lead to changes in how a state approaches their foreign policy. In 2018 Imran Khan was elected prime minister in Pakistan along with his party Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf. Along came four of the most high-risk transformative years for Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy. The ‘Khan way’ of undertaking the intense political climate he took power during, included foreign policy approaches unlike any previous prime minister. To understand and make sense of Imran Khan's decisions during his time in power, this research paper aims to take basis in Charles F. Hermanns article from 1990. In his work, Hermann identifies four levels of change to which foreign policy can be considered subject. The following paper applies these levels of change to Pakistan’s foreign policy regarding India and the US, under the control of Imran Khan and concludes that the ‘Khan way’ was more diplomatic than anything Pakistan has previously seen. Imran Khan took an anti-war, anti-conflict and anti-dependency route that was incomparable to past policy directions and therein becomes a rich subject in the field of foreign policy.