Functioning as a security state, Pakistan has long formulated its foreign policy choices based on security needs and the aspiration to establish itself as a hard military power. This approach has allowed the military to play a leading role in shaping both domestic and foreign policy decisions, often overshadowing civilian institutions. However, with changing global dynamics, the current civil-military establishment […]

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) serves as a powerful symbol of the burgeoning alliance between China and Pakistan. This ambitious venture, born under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has not only elevated economic collaboration but has also left an indelible mark on their broader bilateral relations. Positioned as the “flagship project” of the BRI, CPEC envisions an intricate network […]

Pakistan has started repatriations that could force millions of Afghans back to their crisis-wracked home country. As Crisis Group expert Ibraheem Bahiss explains in this Q&A, the policy could bring further trouble to the region, notwithstanding Islamabad’s efforts to justify itself on security grounds. What is happening on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border? On 3 October, Pakistan’s caretaker government announced it would […]

The United States and Pakistan have a longstanding relationship spanning more than three-quarters of a century, but this relationship has experienced significant stress since the post-9/11 American intervention in Afghanistan. The U.S. had expected Pakistan to lend more support to its efforts to defeat the Taliban, and Pakistan felt underappreciated despite the economic and human costs it incurred for becoming […]

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday criticized the expulsion of illegal Afghan refugees from the country. “1.5 million refugees are not much of a burden for a nation of 250 million people. There is a fear of a permanent rift in the long-standing relationship between the two countries, considering the way Afghan refugees are being expelled,” Khan […]

Concept of the state systemHistorical records reveal that the very concept and nodes of the modern nation-state system can be traced back to the creation of Greek city-states when first they came to prominence around 700 BCE followed by the Roman city-state system in 753 BCE, later on, converted into kingdoms and empires and their re-emergence with the signing of […]

Across the globe, refugees, always treated as the pox of public policy, continue to feature in news reports describing anguish, despair and persistent persecution. If they are not facing barbed wire barriers in Europe, they are being conveyed, where possible, to third countries to be processed in lengthy fashion. Policy makers fiddle and cook the legal record to justify such […]

What is special about China-Pakistan maritime exercises in the Northern Arabian Sea? Not much, one might plausibly argue. The two countries regularly perform naval drills in the Indian Ocean, with the Sea Guardian exercises now an annual feature. Normally, the exercises are held in waters close to Pakistan and rarely in ways that directly challenge Indian interests. Whatever the rhetoric […]

Abstract: Two years into Taliban rule, what are the key choices and tradeoffs for U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan? Policymakers face the dilemma that a critical subset of counterterrorism concerns related to Taliban-allied terrorist groups may not be addressed if the Taliban become stronger; however, the terrorism threat will likely increase under a weaker Taliban regime. Concessions to […]

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Bannu Division: Rising Storm On November 22, 2023, a polio worker, Hassan Tawab, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Miranshah area of the North Waziristan District. Police said that Hassan was called out of his house and shot dead. On November 21, 2023, two soldiers were killed after an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a Security […]