> Following Pakistan’s general elections in February, a new coalition headed by Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz came to power. But Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which claims it won the balloting, rejects the government’s legitimacy and demands a vote recount.

> The disputed polls have fuelled political turmoil and mass protests at a time when the country faces grave economic and security challenges. The credibility of all elected institutions is at stake, with few signs that rival claimants to power are willing to compromise.

> Both sides should acknowledge that deadlock undermines democracy at a critical moment. The government should end its crackdown on the PTI-led opposition and seek consensus in parliament on issues of mutual concern. Pulling back from its hardline rhetoric, the PTI should use parliamentary forums to advance its political agenda.

The United States is currently on course for sustained competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in which both sides recognize the dangers of a potential great-power conflict — something both sides say they hope to avoid. As the United States shifts from a strategy of engagement toward a strategy of confrontation and competition with the PRC, it is even more important to sustain the meaningful bilateral diplomacy and respect for long-standing policies and principles that have prevented the relationship from gravitating toward conflict for the past half century. This will require developing more, not less, diplomatic engagement and informal communication between defense communities to better understand and prevent the potential triggers for direct conflict between the world’s two most powerful countries. The most significant and dangerous such trigger is the issue of Taiwan and the potential mismanagement of cross-Strait relations.