On July 25, Pakistanis will vote in elections for the country's federal and provincial assemblies. The outcome will determine how the troubled country addresses a number of issues, including a worsening trade imbalance, domestic terrorism, energy shortages and water scarcity. The elections will also influence the balance of power between the civilian government and Pakistan's politically powerful army. This is something that will heavily affect Islamabad's deteriorating relationship with its once-staunch ally, the United States, and determine how Pakistan pursues its competition with archrival India. In the wake of a corruption conviction that sidelined former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his center-right Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, now being led by his brother Shahbaz Sharif, is struggling to stave off advances from the country's two other major political parties.