September 2018

Higher education does not know how to speak for its interests Since the creation of Pakistan, higher education system of the country has been a matter of great concern among various circles, especially the educationists, government, policymakers and general public. Ranging from socioeconomic system to religio-cultural lives of people the issue of higher education has several dimensions. In 1974, to …

By: Ammar Awais The Challenge Ahead In spite of the recent challenges faced by Pakistan’s economy, there is a sense of economic optimism in the country, driven by the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, certain measures need to be taken to reap maximum benefits out of CPEC projects, one of which is to ensure robust, export-led investment in …

Finding the correlation Tax evasion is among the biggest problems Pakistan is faced with today. The fiscal deficit of the country has increased from 4.6 percent of GDP in 2015-16 to 6.8 percent in 2017-18. Increase in the fiscal deficit is due, mainly, to excessive expenditures and extremely low tax-to-GDP ratio, which remained within a narrow band of 9.8 percent …

Opportunities and Risks Envisaged in mid-2013 and launched in April 2015, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a set of projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, marks a new era of economic ties in a bilateral relationship historically defined by security cooperation. Pakistan’s economy clearly needs reform to better serve its people, and many officials say CPEC will help in …

By: Raashid Wali Janjua  What Pakistan needs do to cope with the menace? Recently, while speaking at the annual internship programme held at the ISPR Directorate, the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa highlighted the issue of hybrid warfare and said that the nature and the character of war have changed now and in today’s age of hybrid …

By: Mahboob A. Khawaja Are the New National Elections a Prelude to Change? The people of Pakistan have spoken out loud and, quite logically, Imran Khan is the person they have elected to lead a futuristic system of political governance. To discard the incurable resentment against the former indicted criminals-turned-politicians, he people of Pakistan have rejected them through the ballot. …

The Afghan peace process has entered a new – perhaps the decisive – phase as the United States has offered to hold direct talks with the Taliban, for which the latter were waiting and had been pressing since long. Although the United States has been involved in negotiations since their efforts at making peace with the Taliban began in 2005, …

Trade war between the United States and China is escalating. The US imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on US$34 billion of Chinese goods on July 6, and China retaliated with a similar tariff on US imports worth US$29.6 billion. The US may impose an additional 25 percent tariff on another US$16 billion of Chinese goods in September and perhaps …

Can the US plan for Middle East deliver peace? This year has been full of speculation about what Trump’s “Deal of the Century” for Israel-Palestine peace might look like. Even though Trump’s officials have given away nothing publicly, the plan’s contours are already evident. What is thus far known goes something like this. Jerusalem, which was recently shuffled, is now …

Introduction According to Roberto Azevêdo, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), seeds of impending ‘trade war’ have been sown. He recently wrote: “Global trade is under threat. Whether or not you call the current situation a trade war, certainly the first shots have been fired. This calls for our attention, and most importantly, our action.” His statement is …