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…
IntroductionThe Australian Defence Policy has seen many phases. The major challenge has been to strike the balance between the need to defend the continent or the defence of wider strategic interests. Being part of British Empire, the defence policy was to contribute to imperial defence till end of World War II (WW II). However during…
While Pakistan was busy in mitigating the hardship of flood victims, with the military playing an overwhelming role in rescue operations, Afghanistan was able to put behind its electoral crisis and come up with an improvised government structure for its stalled political transition. The presence of President Mamnoon Hussain during President Ashraf Ghani’s inaugural ceremony…
Elections, political system and democracy are the modern trinity of human survival, human rights, freedom of expression, socio-economic prosperity, national production and people’s prosperity. It is the easiest and smoothest way for power sharing and gross-root participation. It provides political stability and economic sustainability and stands for political wisdom and hope for betterment. It transforms…
To obtain power politicians tend to make a lot of promises. Most of them can hardly be kept, in a feudal society populism is simply a means to an end. A gullible populace can be faulted however for being taken for a ride again and again, and mostly by the same lot. For all its…
Smashing more than half a dozen vehicles parked around the Minhaj ul Quran Secretariat on June 17 in Model Town Lahore under the rather benign patronage of the Punjab Police, the man who perpetrated the vandalism refuses to go away from the public eye. Ahsan Rana’s blog says that with 10,000 plus downloads of a…
Terrorist Activities in Pakistan Suicide AttacksAt least 12 militants, wearing suicide vests and armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic weapons were killed and 11 Security Forces (SFs) were injured in an 11-hour gun battle near Khalid Aviation Airbase – and Samungli Airbase in Quetta on August 14, reports The Express Tribune. Earlier it was…
Most politicians can be economical with the truth even at the best times. With Khursheed Shah shedding crocodile tears in the Joint Session of the National Assembly about the PM buckling under pressure from the Army and the resultant threat to “democracy”, Mian Sahib crossed the failsafe line that an awakened public is now increasingly…
While Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai and India’s Kailash Satyarthi share the Nobel Peace Prize for the year, their countries are engaged in a sort of ‘small-scale war’ in the UN acknowledged disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Hopefully, the two laureates would put together their energies and help resolve one of the longest outstanding disputes on…
Treason case has been registered against Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and freedom movement leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in an Indian court. A petition has been filed in district court that Basit had met Shabir Shah in contravention to the Indian government orders. The petitioner termed the move as ‘treason’ and a conspiracy against India….
