February 2013

The situation in Pakistan is no different. We too witnessed the Athenian scene being enacted in our capital with a lot of political ferment and frenzy. On a day in 399 BC, philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of 500 of his fellow-Athenians accused of ‘refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state’ and of ‘corrupting the youth’. If …

This article aims at underscoring the matters of understanding and the issues of miscellaneous opinion and policies between Pakistan and the US over the distinctive national and international contexts that directly link the two parties’ interests and spell out causes of survival of interaction between them during crucial times of ‘pull-and-push’. The history of relations between Pakistan and the United …

The Soviet failure in Afghanistan due to Pakistan’s active support for the Afghan Jihad kept both the states locked in a state of continuous hostility, with the result that their relations were far from being normal for a long time. In the inter-state relations, politics has made national interests dominant all other considerations. The same was true about the China-U.S. …

The latest flare-up of tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir is a reminder of the accident-prone nature of Pakistan-India relations in a strategic environment unaltered by improvement in trade and political ties. The border hostilities witnessed last week are inherent in the unresolved status of bilateral disputes. This makes the LoC susceptible to advantage seeking by one …

Up, close and intimate with Mr Richard Olson US Ambassador to Pakistan Profile Mr Richard Olson was sworn in as Ambassador to Pakistan on September 24, 2012. Previously, he served as the Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs at U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2011 to 2012. Ambassador Olson also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab …

Though violence has dipped since June 2012, Iraqis are still a sad and fearful bunch On the last day of 2012, a year after the last American troops left Iraq, ending nearly nine years of military occupation, at least 36 Iraqis perished in a wave of bombings and shootings across the country that targeted policemen, government officials and ordinary people …

The Pak-Afghan relations have been on a thorny road since Pakistan’s establishment in 1947. Pakistan and Afghanistan are now led by pragmatic leaders who focus on domestic economic growth and political stability. But it is unclear whether this harmony in national goals and principles can override the long-standing mutual suspicions and overcome a cacophony of contradictory domestic interests. Despite intensifying …

The Islamists are fast losing their popularity, but their opponents are still too weak and divided to vote them out of office In a new year’s message Muhammad Badia, the Supreme Guide of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, advised his followers to temper resilience with magnanimity. ‘Be like the tree which, when battered by stones, drops its finest fruit,’ he said. His …

The situation in many debt-ridden countries worsened with a major political upheaval and the resultant change in eight out of 17 countries hit by the crisis. The crisis led to power shifts in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. A number of countries in Europe face serious financial crisis that has made it impossible for them …