Russia’s recent diplomatic overtures toward Afghan peace and its secret rapprochement with the Taliban show that the country wants to play a new “great game” in Afghanistan. In this regard, President Vladimir Putin seems to have capitalised on the election of Donald Trump as the US president to steadily outsmart Uncle Sam in . Under President Xi Jinping, China is …

The declining US influence in the Middle East has prompted the Trump administration to militarily intervene in the festering Syrian civil war. After the chemical attack in the Syrian town of Ghouta on 21 August 2013, the US had been anxiously waiting for a similar attack in Syria so as to provide a legitimate cause to its direct military intervention …

India has long dreamed of becoming a regional hegemon in South Asia. With an aim to achieve preponderance, New Delhi has employed both soft and hard power in order to bring all the peripheral South Asian states under its military and economic tentacles. For India, economically- and militarily-rising Pakistan continues to pose a significant threat to its ambitions. “India has …

Mistrust, mudslinging and divergent regional objectives are the issues that have impeded both India and Pakistan from improving the chronically-strained relationship. Despite huge potential of bilateral trade as well as of security cooperation, both countries continue to remain at loggerheads and are reluctant to improve their ties and harness their resources through greater regional economic connectivity. Since coming into power …

Napoleon once said, “If you know a country’s geography, you can understand and predict its foreign policy.” He was dead right as the geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic factors have, indubitably, always played a pivotal role in bringing states together so as to maximise their socioeconomic and security interests. On the same line, both Pakistan and Iran, owing to their geographical …

Since the US still wields considerable economic power and possesses unmatchable military prowess, the entire world keenly watched the debates between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican hopeful Donald Trump for the most powerful position in the world, the President of the United States. The incendiary statement of firebrand Trump against asserting China, Russia and Islam led an overwhelming number …

Pak-Afghan relations have been marred by mutual mistrust, acrimony and recurrent blame game. Under the disruptive thumb of India, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has recently threatened to completely block Pakistan’s trade access to Central Asia, if Islamabad does not formally permit Kabul to import Indian goods via the Wagah border. Such threats will further deteriorate the already fragile relationship between …

Though most Arab states are yet to formally recognise Israel as an independent state, their relations with the Jewish state have considerably improved since the successful conclusion of the Iran-P5+1 nuclear deal. The oft-cited maxim that only national interest determines a country’s relations has stood valid again. Bearing in mind the adage that the enemy of my enemy is my …

The emergence of one of the wealthiest and  the deadliest militant organisations, the self-styled Islamic State or Daesh, poses an existential threat to the security and territorial integrity of some South Asian countries. Media reports and some recent incidents suggest that the militant organisation has ominously spilled over into Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India; but the governments in all these …

The New Great Game, the term introduced by renowned columnist and political analyst Ahmed Rashid in the 1990s, basically revolves around the energy politics in Central Asia being played by some emerging powers. Pakistan’s exceptional geo-strategic location and geo-economic position endow the country with ample opportunities to play a decisive role in the New Great Game because the country is …