2017

The international system seems heading toward a period of great uncertainty. Established security alliances of the post-World War II era are disintegrating while the fledgling new ones such as the G20 have no capacity to replace them. The dominant discourse of market-friendly neoliberalism is losing prominence while neo-protectionism and economic nationalism are gaining ground. Amidst rising geopolitical tensions among major …

From Donald Trump’s first days in office, news of the damage to America’s international stature has come hard and fast. As if guided by some malign design, the new president seemed to identify the key pillars that have supported US global power for the past 70 years and set out to topple each of them in turn. By degrading NATO, …

Donald Trump has probably never heard of the Grand Old Duke of York and his 10,000 men. But in spelling out his new Afghan strategy, the US president gave a good impersonation of that symbol of military muddle-headedness, incompetence and futility immortalised in the English nursery rhyme. By marching US troops back up the Afghan hill, having previously solemnly vowed …

There have been many periods of heightened tension between North Korea and the United States over the years, especially in April and August, when South Korea and the United States conducted joint military exercises that North Korea considered preparation for an invasion. A physical engagement between the two nations still looks highly unlikely, but it is something that serious analysts …

1. China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor The idea of China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC) was proposed by China in September 2014 during the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state of the three countries in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. On June 23, 2016, the three countries inked a development plan for the proposal, the first multilateral cooperation plan to form part of the Belt …

Pakistan’s Political Culture  Political dynamics in Pakistan still represent the conservative status quo that tells the sorry tales of intellectual bankruptcy of our politicians. Political parties carry on activities only during the election days. Recently, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced to “ continue to hold political gatherings in Punjab” whereas Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also vowed to run electoral campaigns in …

Finally, the cat is out of the bag. After months of dilly-dallying, President Donald Trump has announced his long-awaited policy on South Asia and Afghanistan. In his policy speech, while clearing the way for the deployment of more US troops in Afghanistan, the President backtracked – like many of his U-turns before – on his promise to ‘rapidly end America’s …

National 1. Xiaohong Yang is the ______ Country Director for Pakistan. (a) AFD (b) ADB (c) AIIB (d) IMF 2. Pakistan’s opener Fakhar Zaman scored ______ runs in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. (a) 106 (b) 114 (c) 134 (d) 147 3. Player of the series for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 was _____. (a) Fakhar Zaman …

NATIONAL June 16: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Agency (AFD) approved loans worth over $400 million to help Pakistan improve reliability and sustainability of the energy sector. ADB Country Director Xiaohong Yang and Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division, Tariq Mahmood Pasha signed the agreement. June 17: The OGDCL awarded 80 scholarships under ‘OGDCL-HEC Need-based scholarship …