Unlike his predecessor Lt Gen Faiz Hameedwho revelled in publicity [remember his tea sipping photo in Kabul just days after Taliban had seized power], the current ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum appeared to be a mysterious spymaster belonging to the old-school who preferred to remain in the shadows. At least that’s what everyone thought, because soon after taking charge […]

Alone at the Top (FPRI) — The Party Congress was expected to reaffirm, and perhaps further consolidate, Xi Jinping’s position as the most dominant Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, and to give him an extraordinary third and—physical and political health permitting—term as general secretary. In March of next year, Xi is on track for an unprecedented third term as state […]

The ‘Pivot to Asia’, the strategic rebalance announced by President Barack Obama in 2011 and early 2012, marked a significant shift in US foreign policy priorities from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific. While speaking at the Australian Parliament in November 2011, Obama stated that as a Pacific nation, “the United States will play a larger and long-term role in […]

A shootout with militants in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday killed two soldiers, authorities said as a counterterrorism task force arrested a suspect involved in the recent killing of a former top judge of the country’s restive southwestern Baluchistan province. According to a military statement, the shootout took place in the Darazinda area, in the district of Dera Ismail Khan in […]

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban), met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a recent visit to Turkey and assured support to the Palestinian resistance against Israel, according to a Dari-language report by an Afghan news agency.[1] The Afghan Taliban delegation led by Zabihullah Mujahid met with Ismail Haniyeh and other […]