No conflict is static and it changes with the time. It evolves with changing policies, interests, capabilities and competing interests of key players. All these factors influence a conflict and Af-Pak theatre is no different. The announcement of major U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 influenced the decisions of many regional…
Dear Editor, AOA It is an irony of fate that the most hated man in Pakistan is appointed as AMIR of TTP. Should we consider this as an Opportunity for Pakistan to reconsider our priorities for war on terrorism? Mullah Fazlullah is an uneducated MULLAH who did not receive any formal education. He was a…
As anticipated, the Afghan Loya Jirga has endorsed a much awaited bilateral security agreement (BSA), allowing an unspecified number of American troops to stay on in the country after 2014. “Given the current situation, and Afghanistan’s need… the contents of this agreement as a whole is endorsed by the members of this Loya Jirga,” said…
Commercial diplomacy stands for further strengthening of economic integration, internationalizing, expanding across borders trade and above all stimulation to national economies. It is a new tool of engagement and creating trustworthy bilateral relations. It is the mother of all types of diplomacies in the new arena of globalization 3.0. It is the sign of economic…
Consider the theatrics of the absurd by some political clerics at the killing of the terrorist responsible for slaughtering thousands of innocent Pakistanis. Indeed pathetic that the fundamentally moderate Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) should label Tehrik-e-Taliban-i-Pakistan (TTP) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud a “Shaheed”! To safeguard their fiefdoms, politicians and clerics often turn to appeasement of militants. The Army…
Democracy is representative of the will of the majority, our major problems stem from experimenting with various models of ‘imperfect’ democracies. A social state in a true democracy is one in which everyone has equal rights without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege. By this simple yardstick alone, do we really have democracy…
According to both legal opinion and mass public perception, prima facie the case against Gen Pervez Musharraf for treason is legally a “slam dunk”, he is guilty as charged. According to Article 6 the extra-constitutional measures Musharraf used on Nov 3, 2009 to remove the SC judges is “treason”. Will the trial court have the…
Power is nothing more than the ability to get others to do what you want. For doing that you require tools of coercion or payment, or “hard power”, and tools of attraction, or “soft power”. Soft power is when a state, an organization or even an individual exercises power with means other than violence and…
Terrorist Activities in Pakistan Bomb BlastA bomb on October 30 killed five Pakistani soldiers in a village near the Afghan border in the South Waziristan Agency, reports Dawn. “Number of martyred soldiers due to IED explosion in South Waziristan has risen up to five,” a senior security official said. At least five people were killed…
After weeks of intense speculation in the media, two senior army officers were appointed as Chief of’ Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee on the recommendation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Nov 27. Career infantry officer Lt Gen Raheel Sharif was appointed as the new COAS of the Pakistan Army and…
