Bruce Riedel’s book What We Won is brief history of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) support of Afghanistan’s rebels in the 1980s. The book is divided into several chapters on major players of the last battle of the Cold War. The chapter on Afghan communists is very light with no serious inquiry about the background and…
A motivated terrorist attack with a far more deadly purpose than just killing people, Pathankot was a cold-blooded effort to derail the impending comprehensive “dialogue” between India and Pakistan starting Jan 15, 2016. While seven soldiers were killed and many more injured, Indian aircraft and related equipment on the airbase did not suffer any material…
Going into battle without adequate training or being properly equipped is bad enough, not having sufficient force, without proper motivation and/or not having battle-tested senior commanders and down the line, is asking for trouble. Not surprising that an unmitigated disaster militarily, the 2004 operations in FATA and the subsequent 2007 one in Swat were badly…
“It’s been dubbed a graveyard for peacemakers, the Rubik’s Cube of diplomacy, but despite the odds Cyprus may well defy naysayers in 2016 by solving its decades-long division,” The Guardian 2016 New President Mustafa Akinci holds the future of Turkish Northern Cyprus. Now divided Cyprus tries its best to become united during 2016. Mustafa Akinci…
Why the CPEC April 20, 2015 was a red letter day in the Pakistan-china relationship. The much awaited visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping to Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan finally materialised. a number of memoranda under the umbrella of china Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC) were signed between the two states for establishment of…
It has been seventeen years since India and Pakistan carried out their nuclear explosions, surprised the world and shattered the innocence and romanticism of South Asia forever. India’s explosions were more status driven, while Pakistan’s explosions were security driven. The Indians also wanted to call the Pakistani bluff. Since then, in all these years, the…
Introduction This is the second lecture delivered by Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the great philosopher, poet, politician, academic, barrister, scholar and intellectual who was well versed with Western philosophy as well as Islamic theology. He critically analyzed the causes of decline of Muslim Ummah and indicated possible ways of renaissance of Muslims. This scholarly aspect…
Pakistan is undertaking a difficult mission to diffuse tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has a natural inkling for this sort of enterprise— indeed a romance. Theoretically it seem all too simple, however, practically it touches the boundary of Mission Impossible. Saudi arrogance and Iranian shrewdness both are equally unsurmountable and…
The Arabian Sea Arabian Sea is today one of the most important region in terms of the International trade routes that pass through it. At the same time it is volatile in terms of maritime activities. Its area is approximately 1,491, 0000 Sq. Miles, width being 1500 Miles with maximum depth of 4650 meters. It…
Assisted by members of the Sindh Police, and firing into the air at the gate of the mills, armed men took over the Seri Sugar Mills (Hyderabad district) and the Tando Mohammad Khan Sugar Mills, removing the management appointed by the owners, former Sindh Governor Ashraf W. Tabani’s family. Armoured personnel carriers (a coincidence if…
