Int’l Affairs

CORONA PANDEMIC With coronavirus cases on a rapid rise, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially changed their classification of COVID-19, the mysterious viral pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus, from a public health emergency of international concern to a pandemic. While making the declaration, the organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “WHO has been assessing this outbreak round the …

Cardinal Rules of Life Laiba Muhammad Aamir Being born into this world is not something we have chosen ourselves. The body given to our lingering soul was completely out of our control. We were thrown into this world without our will and wish. We could be born as an insect, bird, animal or flower. Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, says …

European Union and the Emerging Great-Power Competition World War II, and the period of decolonization that followed it, brought to an end the centuries-long global domination of Europe’s great powers. After 1945, neither of the global powers—the United States and the Soviet Union—was European, and a plethora of newly independent nation-states bounded onto the world stage. Following the dissolution of …

US-Taliban Deal and the Future of Afghanistan After more than eighteen years of war in Afghanistan, the United States and the Taliban reached an agreement in what were both sides’ most intensive efforts yet to end the Washington’s longest war. The agreement, which was signed in Doha, Qatar, in the presence of representatives from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan …

US-Taliban Peace Deal What next? Zafar Iqbal Yousafzai Finally, the United States and Taliban have signed a peace deal in Doha, the capital of Qatar, after 18-month-long negotiations. As per the terms of the agreement, the United States will start withdrawing its troops within 135 days of the deal and will have to complete it within fourteen months—as per an …

Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan The “Giveaway of the Century” On January 28, President of the United States, Donald Trump, presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan—the so-called “deal of the century”—wherein he proposed an independent Palestinian state and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements. Standing alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump …

Has the World Economy Reached Peak Growth? Jim O’Neill The last decade has been a sharp rebuke to the idea of a more integrated, and increasingly frictionless, global economy. Borders, nationalism, tariffs, and even trade wars are back in fashion. Global growth weakened considerably in 2019 as trade wars and weakening growth in China negatively impacted growth. In many parts …

Brexit Got ‘Done’ What will be the future of European geopolitics? On January 31, the United Kingdom ended its 47-year integration with Europe, making a historic exit from the EU after years of bitter arguments to chart its own uncertain path. Beginning an 11-month transition period that will include tough trade talks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a “new …

Global Society in the Modern World Is inequality a solvable issue? One of the key current trends in global politics is the gradual shift from ‘pure’ geopolitics and the hard/soft power of sovereign states to global problems (environmental, resource, demographic and social). The past decade saw the term ‘global problems’ itself crystallize into a new concept, the Global Commons, understood …

US-CHINA TRADE DEAL After nearly two years’ trade talks, the world’s two dominant economic powers, the United States and China, have signed an initial trade deal that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of US goods and services. Through the “Phase One” deal, which was signed in Washington on January 15, the Trump administration aims to resolve …