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The stage is set for a confrontation of sorts between the two erstwhile allies — the US and Pakistan As expected, Pakistan has rejected allegations by the US about the existence of safe havens for terrorists on its soil. It has reiterated its resolve not to allow terrorists to use Pakistan’s territory for launching attacks against any country. Besides, it …

Historical biases and realpolitik lie at the root of the seemingly unmanageable Middle East conflict The cauldron of civilization where the Sumerians invented numbers, calendars and provided base for the Babylonian empire wherein they introduced a coded Hammurabi law to settle the affairs of state and built the hanging gardens of Babylon, has plunged into an abyss of lawlessness and …

The US has stepped up its criticism over Pakistan’s perceived non-cooperation in delivering Afghanistan. Pakistanis lost no time in shredding to pieces Washington’s one-sided narrative and warnings. Pakistan would do well not to lose sight of the larger picture and draw appropriate inferences from the much heralded review of America’s strategy in Afghanistan. The bottom line of all that has …

This is the last piece in the series on education spending. The earlier pieces analysed the budget estimates 2017-18 and budget and revised estimates 2016-17 for all the provinces, the federal government and all of the federal territories. It is now time to put things together and present an overall picture of education spending in Pakistan. In the 2017-18 budgets, …

Nutrition remains one of the least-talked-about sectors in Pakistan, even though it has the most debilitating impact on poverty and the quality of life. The nutrition debate has been submerged in a medically-crafted discourse of health and a set of somatic pathologies with clinical significance for treatment. This reminds us of Michel Foucault’s cogitations about madness. According to Foucault, madness …

Donald Trump’s flip-flop on Afghanistan has hardly come as a surprise. Contrary to his previous opposition to America’s costly involvement in foreign wars, the enigmatic US president has announced his plans to shore up his country’s military presence in Afghanistan. With the Taliban ratcheting-up their offensive against the beleaguered government in Kabul and the transnational cataclysmic organisation – the IS …

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has accused Pakistan of giving “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror”. His new Afghan strategy will “change the approach in how to deal with Pakistan”. He warned no partnership with Pakistan could survive its “harbouring of militants and terrorists who target US service members and officials”. Trump added “it is time for Pakistan to …

The generals publicly supported their intervention in Afghanistan, but in private they worried they were trapped. After 16 years, they feared they had produced “a recipe for endless war,” according to an American ambassador who met with them. But the generals, the ambassador said, “felt there was no alternative, no realistic alternative” than to continue fighting a doomed mission. Those …

Despite the judicious planning by the Planning Commission of Pakistan, one very potent factor that has inhibited economic growth remains largely undealt with-climate change. As the earth heats up it adversely affects our agriculture which till today has remained the greatest contributor to our economy.  Global warming isn’t just increasing our temperatures, it is also affecting the time and quantity …

SANA, Yemen – After two and a half years of war, little is functioning in Yemen. Repeated bombings have crippled bridges, hospitals and factories. Many doctors and civil servants have gone unpaid for more than a year. Malnutrition and poor sanitation have made the Middle Eastern country vulnerable to diseases that most of the world has confined to the history …