Pakistan has been inching towards a water crisis for decades. In 1951, it was a water-abundant country with an annual per capita availability of around 5,260 cubic meters (m3). By 2013, this declined to as low as 964 m3 per annum. The country is expected to become “absolute water scarce” — less than 500 m3 per capita per annum — …

US relations with Moscow during and after the Cold War have been marred by diplomatic dustups ranging from espionage scandals to an Olympics boycott. Current tensions, highlighted by President Barack Obama’s decision to impose sanctions and expel 35 Russia diplomats, is exceptional because it stems from US allegations of Russian cyber meddling in the presidential election and because it is …

By CENGIZ CANDAR ISTANBUL — When a Turkish police officer assassinated Andrey G. Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, on Monday, it felt for a moment as if the whole world shook. The killing took place at a time of global uncertainty and reminded some observers of the start of World War I. The truth, however, is that despite shaky relations …

By Omri Boehm For weeks now, Jewish communities across America have been troubled by an awkward phenomenon. Donald J. Trump, a ruthless politician trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes, has been elected to become the next president, and he has appointed as his chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, a prominent figure of the “alt-right,” a movement that promotes white nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism …

By: Paul Krugman Authoritarians with an animus against ethnic minorities are on the march across the Western world. They control governments in Hungary and Poland, and will soon take power in America. And they’re organizing across borders: Austria’s Freedom Party, founded by former Nazis, has signed an agreement with Russia’s ruling party — and met with Donald Trump’s choice for …

By Syed Mohibullah Shah Over the last 100 years, the world has lived through four different world orders. It has arrived at the same multi-polar order that prevailed in the beginning of the 20th century and is filled with uncertainties. For much of the first half of the 20th century, a multi-polar world was shaping events that affected the rise …

By S M Naseem The focus of this year’s 32nd annual meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) was almost exclusively on the recently-launched China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a $46 billion infrastructure development project that is being funded primarily by China. The focus on the CPEC was driven by the fact that, despite constant drumbeat and noise …

By Bashir Hussain Shah According to scientists and hydrologists, water-related climate change impacts in Pakistan are melting glaciers, frequent floods, frequent droughts and changes in precipitation patterns. Hydrologists say glaciers will be exhausted in the next 60-75 years since they have been melting at high rates due to continuous rise in temperatures. Pakistan will face an acute shortage of water …

By Adnan Adil The death toll of civilian and military casualties in cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC) is on the rise. The casualties and injuries resulting from the attack on a school van in the Nakyal sector on December 16 are the latest spell of bloodshed. The 2003 ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan lies in tatters. …

BY Sam Ben-Meir America’s Weimar Moment This month commemorates seventy-five years since the attack on Pearl Harbor by the forces of Imperial Japan – an attack in which 2,403 Americans were killed and directly led to the United States’ entry into World War II. By December 11th, the United States was officially at war with Japan, as well as Germany …