By Fatima Baloch and Umesh Agarwal
Through its notorious “Buy America, Hire America” strategic Middle East policy, the United States has long engineered artificial security threats for Arab countries in the Middle East by pushing Arab nations to fight against one another, coercing them into seeking US military support, purchasing American weapons, and hiring US military services—often against their neighboring Arab states. By supporting Israel, the US intimidates Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, and the broader Arab world. By fomenting internal Arab conflicts, the US justifies the expansion of its military bases while exploiting Arab nations’ oil, gold, and other natural resources. Due to American domination over Arab nations, ordinary Arab people and the educated class increasingly resent the United States. Despite presenting itself as an advocate and champion of democracy, America supports kingdoms, monarchies, and dictatorships in the Middle East. The US keeps these kings, monarchs, and dictators under constant pressure so that they remain obedient, safeguard American interests, and avoid the fate that Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi of Iraq and Libya, respectively, ultimately faced. On the other hand, the US provides Israel with modern and advanced military technology and weapons to carry out aggression and genocide in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and other neighboring Arab countries in order to maintain a climate of fear. Overall, it sustains its brutal belligerence and hegemonic behavior in the Arab world through Israel’s offensive posture.
All of this brutality is taking place in a unipolar world—a world without any superpower except the United States and its proxy, Israel. This strategy can be traced back to the US-sponsored proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan during the 1980s, carried out under Pakistan’s supervision. The so-called Afghan Mujahideen gathered by Pakistan—mostly warlords and tribal chiefs rather than genuine Islamic ideologues—fought Soviet forces and helped keep the USSR weak, thereby enabling US hegemony in the world. It was deeply unfortunate and absurd that a Jewish- and Christian-funded proxy war against Soviet-backed communist governments and the USSR was presented as an Islamic holy war, despite Islamic teachings, while millions of Afghan Muslims were killed and displaced and nobody seriously evaluated its indefinite repercussions and long-lasting consequences. The eventual Soviet defeat, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and subsequent disintegration contributed to the emergence of a unipolar world dominated by the United States, which became the sole superpower. Today, the US imposes tariffs, economic sanctions, and dictates which nations can buy Russian oil and which cannot. Whatever the US does in the Middle East and throughout the world, nobody dares to question it. The US maintains full-fledged aggressive hooliganism throughout the world, especially in the Middle East.
Further, it is notable that the sacrifices of the Afghan Mujahideen were ultimately wasted, as their internal divisions triggered a civil war in 1992, destroying cities and causing the deaths of over two million Afghans. Notably, Pakistan’s former defence minister, Khawaja Asif, has admitted multiple times that Pakistan should not have intervened in the so-called jihad against the USSR in Afghanistan. It was not a holy war, but a major strategic blunder that resulted in disaster for Muslims across the world.
In the post-Cold War era, India suffered Pakistan’s brutal proxy wars in Kashmir for 30 years, and Arab nations became the primary targets of US and Israeli policies. Arab states could have presented a united front during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, resolved the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, and managed the 1991–92 Gulf crisis between Iraq and Kuwait without inviting US military intervention. Instead, the US has continued to manipulate Arab states, provide full security backing to Israel, and support Arab monarchs in suppressing Arab Spring movements and youth-led revolutions. The ongoing genocide of Palestinian Arabs is a direct consequence of these divisions and the complicity of US-aligned Arab rulers.
The prominent American diplomat, political scientist, and politician Henry Kissinger once exposed this US double standard and use-and-dump policy, saying: “To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be its ally is fatal.”
While the USSR had a legacy of supporting its allies and standing by them, it never had the evil intention of harassing and looting other nations’ resources. During the 1971 war, the Soviet Union provided crucial support to India against US threats by deploying nuclear-armed submarines and warships to the Bay of Bengal. This action forced the US 7th Fleet to withdraw, preventing intervention. The USSR also provided immense diplomatic backing by vetoing UN resolutions critical of India. Globally, many Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries, as well as superpowers such as the United States and China, supported Pakistan and opposed Bangladesh’s independence. India stood apart by sheltering millions of refugees, rescuing genocide victims, and ultimately going to war with Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh. Those who deny these facts should read Pakistan’s own Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, which documents the Pakistan Army’s atrocities against Bengalis.
Suppose, for a moment, that Pakistan had not gathered pseudo-jihadis against the USSR in Afghanistan and that the USSR had continued to exist in a bipolar world—would the Arab world have suffered as it does today? Would Palestine have faced genocide from Israel? Would millions of Afghan people have been displaced? Would the US have maintained such a belligerent attitude towards Arab nations? Likely not. Many Arab nations would have sought USSR support. Today, whatever destructive role the US is playing in terms of war, economy, and tariffs, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are behind the making of a unipolar world and the rise of US hooliganism in the current era. It was a grave blunder to provide space to the US in the Middle East. Additionally, Pakistan has always been a destructive part of wars in the Middle East. For example, Pakistan encouraged the Saudi kingdom to wage an objectiveless war in Yemen in 2015 and obtained billions of dollars by being part of the Arab coalition force. Pakistan’s military advisory mission, led by Brigadier Zia-ul-Haq, played a key role in assisting Jordan’s King Hussein during the “Black September” conflict, which occurred primarily between 16 and 27 September 1970. Following 9/11, Pakistan allied with the US and NATO as a frontline partner in the so-called “war on terror,” receiving substantial aid while facilitating military operations that killed thousands of Afghan and Arab Muslims. During this period, Pakistan also conducted campaigns in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing thousands of its own citizens and committing widespread human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and torture. Earlier, Pakistan’s forces had participated in the 1970–71 Black September conflict in Jordan against Palestinians and later joined Saudi-led operations in Yemen from March 2015, resulting in mass deaths and destruction. Beyond these actions, Pakistan continues its proxy war against India in Kashmir, creating deplorable conditions for ordinary Kashmiri Muslims, particularly in tourism and human development. Pakistan’s cruelty towards the Hindu minority, its ongoing inhumane practices, and the belligerent attitudes of so-called Islamic parties persist across the country, while it continues to fuel Hindu-Muslim communal riots in India, causing suffering and torment primarily for Muslims. Pakistan remains a beneficiary of war while playing a destructive role in the interests of the US and Israel.
It is deeply concerning that Pakistan is widely regarded as Islamic and democratic despite its historical and ongoing actions causing immense harm to Muslim populations. From the Bengali genocide to interventions in Afghanistan and the systematic repression of Pashtun and Baloch communities, Pakistan has undermined Islam’s moral standing. Today, Pakistan has little to do with Islam, and it is notable that prominent Indian Islamic scholar Mufti Shamail Nadwi has publicly stated that he does not consider Pakistan an “Islamic country.”
WHAT ARAB NATIONS HAVE TO DO?
In the context of current US-Israel-Iran tensions, Arab nations must challenge their complicit kings and dictators, oppose US military bases in the region, and support Iran in resisting this aggression. This war will reshape the future of Arab nations and beyond. Today, the US initiates war against Iran only for the security of Israel. All anti-missile and drone batteries are deployed to intercept Iranian barrages of missiles and drones directed at Tel Aviv and other Israeli towns and cities, while Arab nations continue to suffer. Arab nations must understand that US forces deployed in military bases across the Arab world are not there for Arab security, but for Israel. Therefore, Arab nations must expel the US from their countries. Such a move would wipe out US hegemony and belligerence from the region. Only by taking these steps can the Arab world protect itself from the destructive policies of Israel and the United States. Without unity, Israel will continue to weaken and dismantle Arab nations one by one.
In the context of Pakistan being a US war contractor, its destructive role in Afghanistan, its anti-USSR proxy role in the 1980s, and its other crimes against humanity, it is deeply unfortunate that much of the Arab world and the broader Muslim community remained silent during 1970–71, when Bengali Muslims faced mass killings and genocide by the Pakistani military while struggling for independence, which ultimately led to the creation of Bangladesh. Today, the Baloch nation faces a comparable tragedy following the occupation of Balochistan on 27 March 1948.
Pakistan emerged as a result of the partition of the Indian subcontinent. In contrast, the Baloch are an ancient nation of Arab race with distinct historical, cultural, and political roots, inhabiting their own land known as Balochistan. The Baloch people are not historically or culturally rooted in the Indian subcontinent, and Balochistan was never an integral part of either British India or Pakistan prior to its occupation.
For decades, the Baloch people have been deprived of basic human rights and fundamental needs. They continue to suffer widespread repression, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and economic exploitation. Many human rights observers describe the situation as a slow and systematic genocide carried out by occupying forces.
We respectfully appeal to the Arab world—particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman—as well as to Muslim countries globally, to closely examine the suffering of the Baloch people. We urge you to study Baloch history and origins and to understand the legitimacy of the Baloch national cause.
We also call upon Muslim nations to examine the role of external powers, particularly China, in the ongoing repression in Balochistan, including allegations of involvement in human rights violations and the large-scale exploitation of Baloch natural resources without the consent of the indigenous population.
It is deeply concerning that Pakistan is often regarded as an Islamic and democratic state, despite its historical and ongoing actions that have caused immense harm to Muslim populations. These include the Bengali genocide, political manipulation and sectarian violence in the Indian subcontinent, involvement in Black September against Palestinians, repeated political and military interventions in Afghanistan, participation in prolonged wars for foreign military and financial support, the forced expulsion of Afghan refugees, and systematic repression of Pashtun and Baloch communities. Such actions have not only caused the deaths of millions of Muslims but have also severely damaged the moral standing of Islam.
In the name of humanity, justice, and the protection of the Muslim Baloch nation, we urge the Arab world and the wider Muslim community to take meaningful diplomatic, political, and humanitarian steps in support of the Baloch people. The establishment of an independent and democratic Baloch nation at the gateway of the Middle East would contribute to regional stability and serve the long-term interests of the Arab world and the broader Muslim world.
The Baloch nation would remain deeply grateful for your solidarity, support, and principled action.
About the Author
Fatima Baloch is a senior geopolitical and regional affairs analyst who writes extensively on Afghanistan, Balochistan, and India, with a focus on regional security dynamics, insurgency movements, and South Asian strategic affairs.
Umesh Agarwal is a geopolitical expert specializing in Balochistan, Afghanistan, India–Pakistan conflicts, the Middle East, international relations, and regional security issues. He is also a senior columnist associated with the digital news platform IndiaChronicle.
