China has an opportunity to assert leadership in helping steer Afghanistan in a more positive direction. Investing in Afghanistan now will save years of trouble later. The 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is fast approaching. China has just over a year before Afghanistan fades from the West’s radar and Western attention toward the country shrinks substantially. …

Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Anders Fogh Rasmussen, likes to say that NATO is the ‘most successful alliance in history.’ Few would dispute his claim. During the Cold War, NATO served as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. By uniting the West, it deterred Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Following the collapse of communism, NATO extended membership …

Pakistan is mired in an acute energy crisis’ one with immense implications for both the nation’s floundering economy and its volatile security situation. According to some estimates, energy shortages have cost the country up to 4% of GDP over the past few years. They have also forced the closure of hundreds of factories including more than five hundred alone in …

Nearly 15 years after he was ousted in a bloodless coup, business tycoon Nawaz Sharif and his center-right party are poised to regain control over Pakistan’s government, according to early returns from the historic May 11 vote — the first transfer of power from one elected government to another in the country’s history. Like the last two times he won …

Reading shocking reports of killings, arson and mayhem instigated by monks, or perhaps provocateurs, there is good reason to despair about the future of Myanmar. State violence against ethnic groups around the country has been a suppurating wound for decades, but now other long-pent-up resentments are erupting which threaten to derail the fragile process of restoring civilian rule. Current communal …

The G20, comprising the world’s leading economies, met in Washington recently alongside the semi-annual International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank meetings of finance ministers. During the economic crisis and its recovery phase, the G20, which has emerged as the premier global economic forum, appeared to be a cohesive unit, capable of taking collective decisions for the good of the world economy. …

Sharing an elevator the other day, a colleague suddenly turned to me and asked: “So, just how much longer does Pakistan have?” My interlocutor is not the first person to pose that question, but coming from a savvy veteran of the international arena, his out-of-the-blue query was jolting. Pakistan, after all, is not Laos or Sierra Leone.  It is a …

The article presents a detailed analysis of Sino-US relations focusing especially on the future prospects for two super powers. The critique has been written in the wake of the second term of US President Barack Obama and the regime change in China. Debate about the future of US-Chinese relations is currently being driven by a more assertive Chinese foreign and …

The claim of the democratically-elected government to ameliorate its relations with Tehran is a matter of concern for the allies of Cairo. The Asian countries have hailed the triumph of Morsi with ecstasy and at a high note. Russia, China and Iran have expressed their desire to strengthen diplomatic ties with Egypt. The situation in Pakistan was no different, but …