Three centuries ago, the area now comprising Bangladesh was renowned as the bread basket of India, multiple increases in population later, Kissinger called Bangladesh an “international basket case” in the 1970s. Starting from the 1942 food famine, this has been a sorry litany of natural and man made disasters, the poor Bangladeshis have been on…
Dear Readers, With its invasion of Afghanistan in Oct 2001 the US has been embroiled in a war that has become America’s longest war after Vietnam. As the war dragged on, it became clear that this would be an unwinnable war having gone on for almost two decades without any prospect of real peace. The…
Dear Readers, One of the most tragic chapters in Pakistan’s history is its dismemberment in 1971 leading to the creation of Bangladesh. While the trauma of partition may now be behind us, stories of 1971 still raise hackles among those who lived through that era. Among many, one factor that led to the separation, not with…
The National Crime Agency leads the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime, protecting the public by targeting and pursuing those criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK. Founded in 2013 with its Headquarters in London, the NCA is fighting crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime, this includes…
During the last couple of years Pakistani judges and lawyers have increasingly drawn the attention of the public to their profession and conduct. Starting from the early days of Pakistan’s existence at a time when the state of Pakistan was young and vulnerable the judiciary has been justifying military take-overs and rulers with the ‘doctrine…
Babri mosque is a long-standing political, historical and socio-religious dispute. India’s Supreme Court recently declared a landmark verdict thwarting Muslim claims to the site where in a 1992 Hindu mob led by BJP activists destroyed the 491 years old Babri Mosque that had been built by the first Moghul ruler Babur in 1528. Hindus were…
Geopolitical changes during the last decades coming with such speed require our security personnel to remain abreast with the changed situation and acquire clarity about the possible consequences for Pakistan. The ongoing globalization has confirmed that there has never been any physical separation of Europe from Asia and the Ural Mountains and Caucasus have rather…
On December 17th after a long-drawn-out trial former military ruler retired General Musharraf was found “guilty of high treason and sentenced to death” by a three judges bank in a 2:1 split vote. The trial had been initiated for his abrogation of the Constitution of Pakistan and the declaration of a state of emergency as…
‘Strategic assets’ is a relatively new concept that arose in connection with the fast-forward development of economic globalization in the 20thce. And a new wave of economic cold war that has been leashed by the change in economic power centers more recently and the reorganization of economic, political and strategic alliances connected with it. By…
The economic weapon is among the most powerful assets that any government possesses in protecting national security. Greater scrutiny is accorded to economic transactions involving strategic assets: the US government has enacted laws to protect a wide range of “Strategic Assets”, those include American farmland, airlines, telecommunications, and defence-related corporations from what it considers adverse…
