Dorothée Vandamme is a lecturer at the University of Mons and a visiting lecturer at the Université catholigue de Louvain. She is a researcher at the ISPOLE institute and a research fellow at the European Foundation for South Asian Studies. Her main research interests are political sociology and social processes in interstate relations, the political and security environment in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Chinese foreign policy and contemporary international security issues.

• 1. Introduction: The social world of Pakistan 2. State socialization as role compatibility 3. Acquiring statehood and building social identity 4. Setting the stage: Pakistan and its significant others’ NRCs 5. Dealing with the other: The construction of India-Pakistan oppositional identities 6. Client or independent? Understanding the difficulty of the US-Pakistan relations in light of the patron-client framework 7. China as alternative dominant socializer 8. Conclusion

Dorothée Vandamme is a lecturer at the University of Mons and a visiting lecturer at the Université catholigue de Louvain. She is a researcher at the ISPOLE institute and a research fellow at the European Foundation for South Asian Studies. Her main research interests are political sociology and social processes in interstate relations, the political and security environment in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Chinese foreign policy and contemporary international security issues.

• 1. Introduction: The social world of Pakistan 2. State socialization as role compatibility 3. Acquiring statehood and building social identity 4. Setting the stage: Pakistan and its significant others’ NRCs 5. Dealing with the other: The construction of India-Pakistan oppositional identities 6. Client or independent? Understanding the difficulty of the US-Pakistan relations in light of the patron-client framework 7. China as alternative dominant socializer 8. Conclusion

Dorothée Vandamme is a lecturer at the University of Mons and a visiting lecturer at the Université catholigue de Louvain. She is a researcher at the ISPOLE institute and a research fellow at the European Foundation for South Asian Studies. Her main research interests are political sociology and social processes in interstate relations, the political and security environment in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Chinese foreign policy and contemporary international security issues.

• 1. Introduction: The social world of Pakistan 2. State socialization as role compatibility 3. Acquiring statehood and building social identity 4. Setting the stage: Pakistan and its significant others’ NRCs 5. Dealing with the other: The construction of India-Pakistan oppositional identities 6. Client or independent? Understanding the difficulty of the US-Pakistan relations in light of the patron-client framework 7. China as alternative dominant socializer 8. Conclusion