ContextAs President-elect Donald Trump puts together his cabinet that will shape the new American outlook, international actors are anxiously attempting to decipher what his presidency would mean for them, and meanwhile attempt to put a positive spin on it. Some are taking his election rhetoric and statements literally, but then he has little experience about…

ContextA number of significant regional and global events suggest that we are entering a new phase of the global realignment, and the affairs surrounding the campaign against extremism are the heart of this flux. One such event is hardening of the Russian position on Syria and the breakdown of the US-Russia talks to reach an…

ContextAs the global campaign against extremism progresses along, there is a need to understand the evolving dynamics of this fight that got initiated after 9/11. Although a lot has been written about the circumstances that persisted in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the matters have gotten a lot more convoluted ever since. Now, there appears…

ContextAs we approach the end of the year, the pace of unprecedented global change is in no way easing. While the Iran nuclear deal was a remarkable achievement, it was accompanied by two hypotheses: will the agreement bolster Iran to exert even more influence in the region, or would it have to adjust its behavior…

ContextPoliTact has previously noted that since 9/11 the threat perception of the Middle Eastern nations have transferred from being fixated on Israel to dealing with and countering violent extremism. A similar shift also occurred in South Asia, where the debate has continued if the threat Pakistan faces is primarily external or internal. More specifically, should…

ContextIn previous articles different facets and phases of the ‘war against terror’ since it got underway, have been discussed. The terminology has almost become defunct as the balance of power in the Middle East stands at a tipping point. The reason why that has happened is instrumental towards understanding the present status of the campaign…

ContextIn its past analysis, PoliTact has projected that the affairs of Middle East, especially related to extremism and Iran’s nuclear program, are likely to dominate the affairs of South Asia at some point. Associated with this assessment is an alarm that if the Afghan reconciliation process lingers on for too long, as it has, the…

It’s the time of the year when institutions involved in deciphering the political, security and economic affairs of the world, produce short and long-term forecasts. Obviously, the primary purpose of developing a forecast is to better plan. And at a more sophisticated level, to help shape a future that is conducive for ones interests. It’s…

ContextIn its 2013 forecast, PoliTact had laid out a picture of the campaign against extremists that differed dramatically from the mainstream media. Many of these assessments were on the mark. As we approach the end of 2014 and enter the stage 2 of this campaign, these projections need to be revisited. As we conduct this…

As we enter the new phase of the war against non-state actors, there is a growing anxiety that many of the Arab regimes may not be able retain the territorial shape they acquired at the end of WWII. Especially when the first stage of this campaign, which was primarily premised on the use of kinetic…