Historical Perspective By the year 1978, western powers considered Iran as a stable and trusted ally in Gulf region. Armed with sophisticated and most modern warfare weapons made in US, the oil-rich state had a highly specialized army and an efficient and dreaded secret police, the Savak. Raza Shah Pehlavi was the supreme leader of…
In an increasingly globalised world, we are geographically very beneficially at the crossroads separating South Asia with Central Asia and the Middle East, this must be converted to our geo-political advantage. The new nation state of Pakistan felt quite vulnerable because of Indian hostility on its eastern borders and by Afghanistan’s obstinate refusal on the…
North Korea has threatened to cancel the summit with the United States in response to the South Korean Defence Ministry’s announcement that military exercises “Max Thunder” between Washington and Seoul will go as per schedule. These drills opened on May 14 and will continue through May 25, it includes participation of around 100 combat aircraft,…
Dear Readers, With elections barely two months away, a Caretaker govt was installed on June 1, its purpose is to create a conducive environment for genuine elections and to ensure the neutrality of the govt to facilitate a smooth transfer of power from one elected govt to another. As a non-partisan administration, the caretaker’s primary…
The Soviet invasion in 1979 precipitated a large influx of Afghans into Pakistan, mainly from the Kabul elite, the affluent bought up residential homes and even small businesses, mainly in transportation. As the war reached the countryside the not so affluent started to cross over to escape being caught in the crossfire. The (mostly Pashtuns)…
Introduction Muslims as a religious community have become the prime target of the colonial powers who have changed the methodology: Neocolonialism, the control of less-developed countries by developed countries through indirect means, to produce a colonial-like exploitation. The term is widely used to refer to a form of global power in which transnational corporations and…
Pakistan was founded in 1947 at a time when nobody was thinking about globalization even though the just finished WW II suggested that. History of the opposing military alliances had important lessons to teach; not only Pakistanis but others keep forgetting that political and economic alliances follow the military ones. Pakistan missed learning important political,…
Turkmenistan has become the hub of regional connectivity and pioneer of collective socio-economic prosperity. Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has great vision of national macro-economic sustainability and diversification of resources due to which now his country is gradually but surely inching towards a smarter economy. Strategic Geography Turkmenistan has a strategic geography which is located at…
Pakistan has offered Russia a ‘multidimensional strategic partnership’ on the eve of the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. Pakistan’s foreign office said on May 01: “We believe that long term multidimensional strategic partnership between the two countries will be mutually beneficial for the people of Pakistan and the Russian Federation and would contribute towards…
Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) being a sovereign regulator of international energy system granted an observer status to Pakistan in 2005. Since then lot of sincere and serious efforts have been initiated from both sides to achieve the end goal i.e. full membership. Unfortunately, the government of Pakistan has not yet been rectified it because of…
