In recent years, Pakistan has strategically shifted its foreign policy focus from geo-politics to geo-economics, prioritizing economic cooperation, trade, and energy partnerships, particularly with the Central Asian Republics (CARs). This pivot aligns with Pakistan’s broader vision to emerge as a regional trade and energy hub, taking advantage of its strategic location besides affording the landlocked Central Asian nation’s access to […]

On September 24, 2024, on the occasion of the laying down of arms by two prominent insurgent outfits – the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) – in Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Saha, stated, “Now onward we could declare that there is zero insurgency in Tripura.” He also remarked that the current development […]

On September 25, 2024, a 50-year-old villager, Soyam Pandu, was thrashed to death by armed cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Bhandarpadar village in the Bhejji area in Sukma District. The Maoists had barged into his house, dragged him out, and beat him in front of family members and villagers. Maoists suspected that Pandu worked against them […]

Mujahid said among those arrested was a Tajikistan national, who had been planning to carry out a suicide bombing. Islamic Emirate special forces have arrested key members of an insurgent group responsible for a number of attacks including the one on foreign tourists in Bamiyan province in May this year. IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Monday […]

An army with a state In her seminal piece titled “Pakistan-from hybrid-democracy to hybrid-martial law” published in the 2019 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistan born and UK based leading expert on the Pakistan armed forces made some very pertinent and precise observations of how the all-powerful Pakistan army was continuing its subtle subversion […]

In the latest issue of its Urdu-language magazine “Taliban,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) eulogizes slain fighters, argues that it is ahead of the Pakistani military in building narratives in the eyes of Pakistani audiences, frames Pakistani military leaders as those who monopolize resources and obstruct the establishment of Islam, and says that the TTP should not be viewed as a terrorist […]

Iran’s decision to construct a 300 km concrete wall with barbed wire along its border with Afghanistan is a significant geopolitical development. The $3 billion project, intended to curb cross-border terrorism, smuggling, and illegal immigration, particularly in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, highlights the escalating security challenges in the region. Iran’s border fortification is part of a […]

In February 2020, the STRATEGIECS Research and Analysis Department prepared a study looking at the future of the US-Taliban peace agreement, based on an assessment of the overall internal situation in Afghanistan. The study was part of a broader project to prepare the 2020 Outlook Report, similar to the previous edition , but the outbreak of the Corona pandemic and […]

On September 25, 2024, Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands announced that they had formally taken steps to call on Afghanistan to cease its violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This is the first and key step before officially filing proceedings with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), […]

In a devastating and violent incident, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of foreign diplomats travelling through Pakistan’s scenic Swat Valley. Resultantly, what should have been a symbol of Pakistan’s expanding diplomatic connections, transpired into a tragic reminder of the menace of terrorism. This terror attack was a premeditated move by forces averse to Pakistan’s prosperity and improved diplomatic […]