In a surprising move, the Pakistani Air Force has ordered their pilots to shoot down any drones which enter their airspace, including those of the united $tates. This is a remarkable change in foreign policy from the past years, wherein Pakistan was a valuable ally to the u.$. efforts in the “war on terror” waged throughout the Muslim world and beyond. Yet, with civilian casualties from amerikan drone strikes in Pakistan continuing to climb, the Pakistani people have grown long-tired of the amerikan warmongering. Normally, this would not phase the comprador government in Pakistan, and they would continue to give assistance to the united $tates, but these are peculiar times. Pakistan, along with many other countries, are perceiving the hollowing-out of amerikan power throughout the world. No longer is amerika the most valuable ally, nor the most powerful overlord, and they are beginning to understand the kind of paper tiger that represents amerikan imperialism.

No doubt this order was not made with the sole intention of protecting the Pakistani masses from a hungry amerikan empire. This was was a calculated effort by the country’s decrepit leadership to steal power from the united $tates, and hold ransom its own role in amerikan efforts. They believe that, since the united $tates is in a disadvantaged position, that they can force them to accept a more beneficial deal for Pakistan, and elevate its national prestige. They are right, although with reservations. Amerika is willing to accept worse terms for themselves to ensure that Pakistan stays on board with their missions, however Pakistan continues to demand a steeper price for their cooperation, which amerika seems hesitant to accept.

This most recent order comes on the heels of several demands made of the amerikan coalition fighting the “war on terror” in the region. Among which was the demand for full transparency and an end to the compromising conditions of previous agreements, which infringed upon the sovereignty of Pakistan. However, the united $tates quickly shot back with accusations of Pakistani support for terrorist organizations, stating that an end to their “support for terrorism” was a precondition to an agreement. Unfortunately for the united $tates, both they and Pakistan know that amerika desperately needs Pakistani cooperation. Especially now, with a failing amerikan imperialism evident all over the world, there is no room for error and no hand to bluff with.

So what does this really tell us? Certainly the Pakistani government, who oppresses Afghans and Pakistanis alike, is not the protagonist of this story. They are simply using their accumulated political capital and the failure of u.$. empire to demand a better deal, a prudent move for an ambitious bourgeois state. It tells us that the expiration date on amerikan imperialism is fast approaching, and it will soon enter—if it has not already—the gravity of an anti-imperialist black hole. The actions of anti-imperialists throughout the world, from Afghanistan to Venezuela and the DPRK, has been having a tremendous effect. No longer can the united $tates rely on old agreements to get them to the other side, and they have entered, perhaps for the first time in more than half a century, a crisis from which they cannot return unbattered.

We would do good to take advantage of this situation. Internationalism yields disproportionate results in our favor, and we are looking at a crisis which could, if we are as prudent as those abroad, give us a real chance at a hegemonic breakthrough. It seems that any real revolution is still far off in the distance for those trapped in the imperial prisonhouse of nations, but now is the vital time where all of our preparations produce shockwaves of great magnitude. As for the proletariat in central and south asia, the retreat of unrivaled amerikan power creates the perfect conditions for the rapid development of their class power. Although they must contend, as we do, with other non-state forces many of which are in opposition to proletarian power, the end to an overwhelming u.$. hegemony is undoubtedly a good thing. Our primary role in all of this should be the continued transformation of outward accumulation to a civil struggle, and a firm cooperative stance to all those struggling against imperialism.