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Cooperation, not hostility, is the way forward While things seem to be stabilizing at home with the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan and the Rangers-led targeted operation in Karachi, Pakistan’s diplomatic initiatives on its eastern and western fronts appear to have fallen by the wayside. Despite Pakistan’s readiness to make a fresh start in relations with Kabul as well as …

The Judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the 18th and the 21st Amendments The factum of the creation of Pakistan as an independent state derived its legality from successive constitutional instruments: the 1956, the 1962 and the 1973 Constitutions being the most conspicuous. The extant constitutional instrument is the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 that has been, to date, …

Quo Vadis, Afghanistan? Only days prior to second round of Pakistan-brokered peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, confirmed the death of Mullah Omar. After some vacillation over the issue, Taliban also admitted the death of their reclusive leader. In view of the reports regarding the death of Mullah Omar and the resulting …

As much of the Middle East sinks deeper into division between competing political camps, the terror outfit, Daesh, continues its unhindered march toward a twisted version of a Muslim caliphate. Thousands have lost their lives, some in the most torturous ways. Violence meted out by IS or Daesh is hardly an anomaly, considering that the group was spawned in a …

On July 14, a historic nuclear agreement between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; plus Germany) was reached in Vienna, Austria. This deal has raised many questions as to what will be its implications for Obama’s regional strategy, Iran’s own foreign policy orientation, the response from regional partners, the global non-proliferation regime, and …

The original sin of Israel’s birth has scarred it for life and it remains incapable of finding an identity that would meet basic democratic norms. Its neighbourhood in West Asia has had no option but to accept its truculent presence. All international law has to be rewritten, if necessary, to ensure Israel’s state of exceptional nationhood. The United States’ nuclear …

Washington vs China in the 21st Century For even the greatest of empires, geography is often destiny. You wouldn’t know it in Washington, though. America’s political, national security and foreign policy elites continue to ignore the basics of geopolitics that have shaped the fate of world empires for the past 500 years. Consequently, they have missed the significance of the …

Will It Reshape Global Financial System? On July 21, the five BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — formally launched the New Development Bank (NDB) at its new Shanghai headquarters. The NDB is the second development bank, after the 57-member Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, backed by Beijing that seeks to create alternatives to the existing US-dominated …

Let’s Resolve to Promote Education in Pakistan Education is the foundation stone of a civilized society. It is the ladder that helps in reaching the pinnacles of social, moral and economic development in a country. All the saner minds around the world, individually and collectively, are amply aware of the importance of education because a person’s power of reasoning and …

Dr Syed Amer Mahmood is the current chairman of Punjab University’s Space Sciences department. Having earned his PhD in Remote Sensing/GIS from Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, Dr Amer has a long list of scientific cruises on his credit. His research interests include remote sensing and applications of Geographical Information System (GIS) in the field of natural disaster management, geosciences, …