Int’l Affairs

US-Iran Tensions Magazine Desk American officials have suddenly raised the stakes in the long-simmering tensions between the United States and Iran, pointing to new intelligence that they say suggests an imminent threat to American interests in the Middle East. Although the potential for armed conflict between the two countries has loomed since the Islamic Revolution, the recent American assertion that …

Donald Trump and the Weaponization of International Trade The Liberal World Order under Threat Magazine Desk Trade policies of Trump administration are causing more problems than they solve as they treat friends like adversaries, thereby weakening alliances. They are further complicating an already fragile US-China relationship. By discarding the current multilateral system in favour of a bilateral approach, the Trump …

US-China Trade War A dangerous game is on! Magazine Desk During the US-China trade talks in Washington D.C., Chinese and American trade negotiators could not reach a truce. Later, on May 10th, the United States carried through on its threat to ratchet up tariffs on Chinese goods. China vowed to retaliate and impose similar tariffs on American goods. So, the …

The Two-State Solution Keeping the Hope of Peace Alive Federica Mogherini Our common region—the Mediterranean and the wider Middle East—is going through a long and difficult transition. The war in Syria is not yet over, and Libya is still torn by violence and instability. While there are new hopes for de-escalation in Yemen, the road to peace is still long. …

Of key players in The NEW GREAT GAME Abdul Rasool Syed With the collapse of Soviet Union back in 1991, the great game that began between the Russian and the British Empire, and culminated in the fight for dominance over Afghanistan, came to an end. This, however, created a power vacuum in the Central Asian region that rich in with …

China’s Newest Charm Offensive Since its creation by Joshua Kurlantzick in 2007, the term ‘charm offensive’ has emerged in the study of International Relations as a reference to China’s use of soft power to augment its global status and image. While the idea of China charming the world with its economic and cultural prowess has not changed too much, the …

Analyzing the mass movements in Algeria and Sudan Change is the only permanent phenomenon in this world. The longevity of status quo makes it only more vulnerable against evolution. Some of these transitions are short-lived while some last long but the world is never like before when it goes through revolution. International politics also undergoes change from time to time. …

Applying International Law to Pulwama Conspectus From an etymological viewpoint, all abstract concepts are equal. This, however, may not be true in the real world of India-Pakistan relations where two concepts of terrorism and aggression compete for primacy. While the concept of the latter is an ancient construct of world order that has been part and parcel of all the …

Space is the new war arena History repeated itself once again on March 27 as India’s so-called civil space programme ended up being a military one, like its nuclear programme had. India shot down one of its low-orbit satellites – dubbed ‘Mission Shakti’ – in a nod to the 1998 series of nuclear weapons tests called  “Operation Shakti”. Ironically, Indian …

By: Munir-uz-Zaman Fundamental changes are taking place in the international system at a rapid pace. In fact, past 20 years have seen more changes than in the previous 200 years of world history. These changes are all-encompassing and span many spectra, including geostrategic, political, economic and societal. A significant change is taking place in the geo-strategic space; we are witnessing …