“It is rightly said that the Commonwealth is an association underscored by values. But meaningful progress demands that those values be put into practice, mobilizing the vast network of civil society groups who work to strengthen health, laws and governance across all our countries.” — Speech by Her Majesty The Queen at the CHOGM Opening Ceremony On 27 November 2015, …

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is now more certain than ever, based on many lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth’s climate. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, accompanied by sea-level rise, a strong decline in Arctic sea ice, and other climate-related changes. These changes will have an enormous impact on our …

Reviewed by: Peter Oborne The crisis in North Africa and the Middle East has driven Pakistan out of the headlines, but this is surely only a temporary lull. Cursed by nuclear weapons, home to al-Qaeda, victim of several raging insurgencies and a chronically unstable political structure — most Western experts continue to view Pakistan as the most dangerous country in …

On 30th November 2015, the Executive Board of the IMF announced that it had completed the regular five-yearly review of the basket of currencies making up the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and had admitted China’s yuan or renminbi (RMB) to the elite club of currencies. As such, RMB was determined to be a freely usable currency, along with the US …

Following are some most frequently questions asked by the panellists during the CSS-2016 Interviews.  International Affairs Russian President Putin has stated that climate change is a fraud. Do you agree? Why? Describe the roles and functions of UN Security Council and General Assembly? What are Sustainable Development Goals and how they are different from the Millennium Development Goals? What decisions …

Pakistan is fast emerging as a nexus state as the progressive recalibration of foreign relations by both it and the countries that surround and border it, proceed at some speed. The tectonic of geopolitics tend to move exceedingly slowly, but are currently on the diplomatic equivalent of fast-forwards in our neighbourhood. This theme was in full play at the 5th …

Security remains precarious the world over The 14th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Government meeting, was held in Zhengzhou, the capital city of central China’s Henan Province, from December 14 to 15, 2015. The participants of this 2-day meet included prime ministers of the six SCO member states — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — and of …

The advantages of renewable energy like solar, wind and tidal are well known. Producing energy from these sources does not produce any pollutants, greenhouse gases. These sources are eco-friendly too. The greatest advantage, perhaps, is that they do not require any fuel and are free of international price whims. All that is required to set them up are places with …

After the April 2015 low — when the Pakistani parliament historically turned down a request to participate in the Saudi-led war in Yemen — it seems that the Pak-Saudi bilateral relationship is now on an upward trajectory. Although that decision was mainly motivated by a growing shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy, which is apparently becoming China-oriented in its outlook and …

The Gulf is important for a whole host of reasons, and most people understand that. The religious Holy Land link is but one facet of the relationship. We were the natural first port of call — back in the day when we were bigger, better and stronger — for Arab countries looking to expand after the petro bonanza. We helped …