BY S Sadia Kazmi  Revisiting the Facts The recurring debate about nuclear security held at various international circuits claims to primarily create awareness through reviewing current security efforts, providing guidance and cultivating nuclear security culture. A “noble” cause indeed! However mostly the very framing of the ideals and the general tone of the outcomes of such meetings seem to be …

Russia, China and Pakistan have conducted a series of meetings on Afghanistan, though only details from the last one have been made available. Reportedly, one key suggestion to have come out is that Taliban figures be removed from the UN sanctions list as a means of enabling a talks-conducive environment in Afghanistan and countering the threat from Islamic State which …

BY Sultan M Hali Implications for the region India tested its Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its final operational configuration from Wheeler Island off Odisha on December 26, 2016, paving the way for its eventual induction into the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) after user-trials, reported Times of India (TOI).

BY Mehr Ispahani Looking back at the War on Terror This article was co-authored by Mehr Ispahani and Saima Ghazanfar The War on Terror had a major impact on Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Pakistan Armed Forces had to face the threat of the al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled from Afghanistan and started targeting the state buildings, …

Joby Warrick THE militant Islamic State group starts the new year with a drastically depleted bank account, counterterrorism officials say, following months of intensified efforts to deprive the militants of oil profits and other revenue used to finance military operations and terrorists attacks abroad. Coalition aircraft in the past 15 months have destroyed more than 1,200 tanker trucks — including …

Ishrat Husain IN a country where negativity and cynicism reign supreme, critics and detractors of all kinds are revered, and emotional outbursts and fabricated stories dominate the air waves and social media, it is difficult to present a dispassionate analysis of national issues.

Dr Ahmad Rashid Malik The report on the Quetta massacre opened up a Pandora’s box related to the government’s performance in eliminating terrorism. The Supreme Court of Pakistan set up an inquiry Commission by its order on 5th October to probe two incidents: the murder of Bilal Anwar Kasi (a lawyer and President of the Balochistan Bar Association in Quetta), …

While it is definitely too late, and may also be too little, there should be no doubt about the correctness of President Obama’s decision to retaliate against Russia for hacking American computers and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. It would have been irresponsible for him to leave office next month and allow President Vladimir Putin to think that …

By Peter Dykstra There’s a case to be made that the Trump Administration’s rollback of environmental regulation won’t be devastating; that market forces will prevail in the coming energy revolution; that the environment and public health will continue to be protected under the EPA and other agencies, and that state governments will do their part as well; and that a …

By Umer Gilani The defining moment of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali’s tenure was November 3, 2015, when he stood in the Senate of Pakistan –the first chief justice ever to do so – and proclaimed that there was nothing wrong with the justice system. This was a time when, after the 21st Amendment, a national consensus had emerged that …