On August 9, an extraordinary event took place at the Constantine Palace in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. The event was the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Turkey which took place in the wake of months-long angry rhetoric and the bad blood between the two countries over the downing of a Russian fighter jet in November last …

The relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom has been tumultuous and ambivalent since the very creation of the bloc. Great Britain had joined the European Economic Community in 1973. The country has maintained a considerable distance from EU by opting out of some its key policies. Not adopting EU’s common currency i.e. Euro, and distancing itself from …

The Global Food Security Index 2015, an annual publication of the Economist Intelligence Unit, has placed Pakistan at 77th position among 109 countries. This highlights the urgency of the issue for Pakistan. At a time when the country’s population is increasing rapidly, there is a looming threat that the country may become food insecure in the near future. This situation …

Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have long been a victim of turmoil. If on one side, the terrorists killed thousands of innocent people, the military operations too added to their woes, on the other. The generous, hospitable and hardworking people of Fata have been deprived of their basic human rights. However, a ray of hope emerged on Nov 8, …

Territorial disputes have plagued the South China Sea for the past sixty years, inciting episodes of heated conflict followed by periods of relative inaction. Various states in the region, including Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam have claimed various territories or islands within the Sea as their own, based on a wide variety of justifications. But an upsurge …

“Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development.” (Kofi Annan; Former Secretary General of the UN) The terms “governance” and “good governance” are being increasingly used in development literature nowadays with bad governance being termed as the root cause of all the ailments within societies around the world. Major donors and international financial …

Making A Strong Case for Governance Reforms Economic growth and political stability are deeply interconnected. If, on one hand, the uncertainty associated with unstable political environment reduces investment and the speed of economic development on the other, the poor economic performance may lead to government collapse and further political unrest. Economists consider political instability as a serious malaise that impedes …

How Would It Impact South Asia? A lot of concerns have been raised about the future of the South Asian region after the start of US withdrawal from the war-torn Afghanistan. The apprehensions are being expressed especially because the United States has a track record of creating troubles in many regions of the world and then abandoning those without ensuring …

Causes, Repercussions and Solutions Good governance flourishes in a situation that is necessarily corruption-free. Pakistan is unfortunately way down on the ladder on this account. Our society is facing a very grave problem of corruption since long and it is rampant to such an extent that the very basic foundations of our society have been shaken. It’s a cancer that …

The seven-decade rivalry between India and Pakistan is often portrayed as intractable — with good reason. The countries were birthed out of a bloody partition that encouraged each to define itself in opposition to the other, and they have fought four wars since then. Even during peacetime, tensions remain high. This year, though, encouraging overtures by the prime ministers of …