2015

World’s Top Ten

The Curtain  Falls   Dec 28: Nato formally ended its war in Afghanistan, holding a low-key ceremony in Kabul, after 13 years of conflict that have left the country in the grip of worsening insurgent violence. The event was kept secret due to the threat of Taliban strikes.

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Military Courts Redux (Editorial)

Trump's Afghanistan Gambit (Editorial September 2017)

With numerous highs and lows for Pakistan, the year 2014 has passed. But, the wounds it has left on our hearts with Peshawar massacre won’t heal soon. The dark clouds of terrorism have been hovering over our heads for more than 13 years now. Terrorists have been on a killing spree but no serious efforts by our political leadership to …

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An Agonizing Reappraisal

Foreign policy of a nation is always predicated on where you want to go as a sovereign nation and an independent state. This is the basic determinant of a country’s foreign policy. In our case, at the time of our independence, like Alice in Wonderland, we just did not know which way to go and this turned out to be …

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Global War and Peace

Contemporary world is fraught with perpetuated violence and killings to undermine the sustainability of mankind’s future. Complex societal conflicts need rational and flexible strategies using men of new ideas, diplomacy and peaceful means to conflict management. War is not a prelude to peacemaking. The sadistic warriors are using obsessive power to victimize the global humanity. Tim Roemer in his article …

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Strategic Paradigm Shift in South Asia

South Asia hosts eight Saarc states namely Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. The region comprises most ancient cultures in the world, housing over a fifth of population. South Asia holds a significant strategic importance because of its geography (warm water access and numerous resources) and strategic location. The region became more significant after India and …

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US at A Crossroads

The basic feature of US foreign policy during the Cold War was inclusiveness — a willingness to embrace any country that opposed communism, whatever its type of government. The US contested the Soviet system and held the line militarily, and its consistent and comprehensive approach eventually led to the Soviet Union’s implosion. After the Cold War, came the “war on …

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London Conference on Afghanistan

Since the withdrawal of Nato and Isaf forces from the war-torn Afghanistan is in the offing, and the country is entering into yet another transformative period, a grand international conference, the London Conference on Afghanistan, where the world met to discuss how to help tackle Afghanistan’s many problems, was held in London on December 4, 2014. The Conference was jointly …

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Intricate Pak-US Relationship

The US-Pakistan relations are characterized by increasing divergence between the two countries rather than the convergence. A potential convergence also exists on the end game in Afghanistan and a strategic cooperation leading to a broad partnership in other spheres but it will take a Herculean effort on both sides to overcome their differences. This relationship has served some important interests …

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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a development programme to connect Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan to China’s north-western region of Xinjiang via highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas. Economic corridor is not only the road to economic prosperity for Pakistan, it can also be termed as future of the world. It is estimated that about 3 billion people …

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