Recent weeks have been fraught with bad news for Pakistan. First, President Donald Trump accused that “Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror”. Then, came the declaration adopted by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) at their summit in Xiamen. This caught much attention in Pakistan and the uproar was on two clauses in …

“Brexit, Erdogan, Putin and now Trump. Something is rotten in the state of democracy. The stink first became unmistakable in India in May 2014, when Narendra Modi, a member of an alt-right Hindu organization inspired by fascists and Nazis, was elected prime minister. Like Donald Trump, Mr. Modi rose to power demonizing ethnic-religious minorities, immigrants and the establishment media, and …

“You may have to sell [intervention or other military action] in such a way as to create the misimpression that it is the Soviet Union that you are fighting. That is what the United States has done ever since the Truman Doctrine.” — Samuel P. Huntington On 6th April, 59 US Tomahawk missiles slammed into Syria’s Shayrat air base in …

Former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower described the Middle East as “the most strategically important area in the world” as oil from this part of the world was, in the eyes of the US policymakers, “the richest economic prize in the world in the field of foreign investment” and “a stupendous source of strategic power”. The US State Department also …

Political reforms introduced by the British in India had instilled in Muslims a feeling that they would never get power to govern their lives and that they will become a permanent minority in a democratic system. This feeling was not unjustified or irrational at all because Muslims constituted only one-fourth of the total Indian population a big chunk of which …

Since the beginning of human societies, there has been a continual debate as to which form of government is better for the welfare of the state and prosperity of its citizens. And after centuries of evolution, it is now believed that only that state can prosper and develop where democracy reigns supreme. Over the centuries, monarchies, aristocracies, oligarchies have faded …

On June 3, on one of the stormiest days in Paris in decades, eminent diplomats met in the city to discuss the possibility of convening an international peace conference between the Israelis and the Palestinians. To bring peace between these two protagonists, the international, community will most definitely need a display of power, similar to the one by the elements …

Afghanistan has been suffering from the horrors of wars and instability for decades now. These have made the people undergo great misery; therefore, most of the people are now fed up of the circumstances and they keep on longing for peace. The common people in Afghanistan require nothing more than peace today as the situation is once again turning instable …

Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani was in Pakistan on an official two-day visit on 25-26 March, 2016. His visit has a greater significance in the wake of the emerging geopolitical situation in the region and especially after Iran’s unshackling from international sanctions. The sojourn has led to realisation of the fact that both the countries can — and must — …

Even before Plato conceived the philosopher-king, people yearned for clever, dispassionate and principled government. When the usual run of rulers proves cowardly, indecisive or discredited, turning to the wisdom and expertise of a technocrat is particularly tempting. History suggests that technocrats do best when blitzing the mess made by incompetent and squabbling politicians. Technocracy was once a communist idea: with …