For residents of Pakistan’s unstable tribal areas, this election is shaping up to be unlike any in the past.
![A US soldier from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment uses the optic on his rifle to observe Afghans in the distance, near forward operating base Gamberi, in the Laghman province of Afghanistan on December 15, 2014 [File: Reuters/Lucas Jackson]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2014-12-15T120000Z_1561482948_GM1EACF1PYR01_RTRMADP_3_AFGHANISTAN-MILITARY.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The American appetite for entering into conflict to preserve global dominance seems to be abating.
For residents of Pakistan’s unstable tribal areas, this election is shaping up to be unlike any in the past.
Wracked by violence and ineffective governance, Pakistan’s northwest could well throw up an electoral surprise or two.
