General

MICHAEL COLLINS The ‘forgotten’ astronaut of Apollo 11 American astronaut Michael Collins, who as pilot of the Apollo 11 command module stayed behind on July 20, 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin travelled to the lunar surface to become the first humans to walk on the moon, died on April 28 at age 90. Often described as the “forgotten” …

ISRAEL’S IRON DOME Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system has been the object of lavish praise in Western media outlets over the past few days, as the Israeli military bombards Gaza and uses the system to shoot down rockets fired by Palestinian groups into Israeli territory. However, according to open sources, Israel underwent the longest-reaching rocket assault in its history at …

PAKISTAN TO HOST WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2021 June 05, Pakistan will host, for the very first time in its history, the World Environment Day. This year’s observance of World Environment Day with the collaboration of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will be on the theme of ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ and will focus on resetting our relationship with nature. It will also …

A Tribute to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan on the evening of April 21, 2021, the world not only lost an eminent thinker, scholar and a guide but one of the most ardent advocates of peace and peaceful coexistence. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan was an intellectual giant and an erudite scholar who devoted his life to pursuance of principles of peace. Always clad …

HOPE The Key to Unlocking the Doors of Magic Hope structures our ways of negotiating the ongoing circumstances. Having a mighty hope also awards unending positivity regarding a successful future and optimistic vision which, in turn, seeds a resilient and versatile nature that assures one that one will pass through the tough time. It creates an aura around the individuals …

The Cilimate Pledge of the World’s top Emitters Under the Paris climate agreement, nearly every country is to drastically reduce their carbon emissions, and they were supposed to submit renewed plans to do so by the end of 2020. The first raft of “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) submitted in 2015 would put Earth on course to be at least 3 …

The Middle East and Great Power Politics The Turkish role After Turkey’s failure to join the European Union despite several attempts, Turkey adopted a strategic depth doctrine, by exploiting its geopolitical position in the centre of the three continents to achieve its political, economic and military interests through dispute settlements and by building positive relations with all nations, from Asia …

The Istanbul Canal President Erdogan’s ‘Crazy Project’ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is well known for his penchant for gigantic construction projects in Istanbul. Be it a new airport, Turkey’s largest mosque or a tunnel that goes under the Bosporus — he has built it all within a short time. But these objects of prestige are nothing compared to his …

Major Chokepoints of the World 1. Strait of Gibraltar This strait between the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean has the United Kingdom’s tiny Gibraltar Colony as well as Spain on the north and Morocco and a small Spanish colony on the south. US warplanes were forced to fly over the strait (as protected by the 1982 conferences) when attacking Libya …

Europe’s “Sinatra Doctrine” on China The EU wants to go its own way Backdrop “When it comes to China, the primary concern of the EU and its members is to avoid being sucked into a superpower struggle between America and its geopolitical rival. For that, the EU has to develop its own independent position on China,” says Josep Borrell, the …