“The bickering nation”. This one sentence aptly describes the current state of Pakistan, where the two major terrorist/insurgent formations – the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of 56 terrorist outfits, and the Baloch insurgents – have created havoc. A third terrorist group – the Islamic State – is also on a rampage. Meanwhile, the political landscape is turbulent, while […]

India is a unique country with an extraordinary level of social and cultural diversity. More than 1.4 billion Indians speak approximately 780 languages (22 of which are official). India is home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations, such as the Indus Valley Civilization and the Vedic Civilization, and it also houses sacred sites for Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions. […]

Nepal’s 2024 news headlines were dominated by political instability, geopolitics and corruption. The limitations of the grand ruling coalition — made up of the Communist Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist–Leninist (CPN–UML) and Nepali Congress party — internal feud in the CPN–UML, relations with China and fund misappropriation cases by executives and popular leaders are key issues that gripped society. Economic and […]

Since the forced annexation of Kalat in 1948, Baloch ethno-nationalists have rejected integration into Pakistan, waging a persistent armed struggle for independence. Over the decades, this resistance has unfolded in at least five distinct phases, each aimed at securing an independent Balochistan. The all-powerful security establishment along with the political leadership of the country has unsuccessfully tried to crush the […]

Data Cutoff: March 11, 2025 The China–Taiwan Weekly Update is a joint product from the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute. The update supports the ISW–AEI Coalition Defense of Taiwan project, which assesses Chinese campaigns against Taiwan, examines alternative strategies for the United States and its allies to deter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) aggression, […]

Cleric Mufti Munir Shakir, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-i-Islam, succumbed to injuries he received from a blast in Peshawar on Saturday, DAWN reported. A statement from the police spokesperson said the incident took place in the vicinity of Urmur Police Station and Mufti Shakir was injured on his left foot in the blast. It said the other three injured […]

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, says Islamabad will submit a complaint to the UN against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) and India for “supporting terrorism.” In an interview with Pakistani media, Akram alleged that IEA was involved in the attack on the Jaffar Express train. He claimed, “There is evidence against the Taliban government [Islamic […]

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is in custody after authorities in his home country arrested him on a warrant from the International Criminal Court and put him on a plane bound for the Netherlands, where the world court is headquartered. Philippine authorities had served Duterte with an arrest warrant from the ICC, as part of the court’s years-long investigation into […]

Trump 2.0 is in full swing and it is already causing major anxieties for the global economy. Australia must navigate US–China tensions with careful consideration of its economic realities. Ongoing negotiations for exemptions from US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported metals do not shield Australia from reinvigorated US protectionism, especially as most of Trump’s ire has been targeted […]

For nearly a century, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan have largely avoided direct military confrontations across the Taiwan Strait. However, there have been four notable exceptions: the Taiwan Strait crises of 1954–55, 1958, 1995–96, and most recently, 2022–23. In the first three instances, the status quo was primarily restored following the crisis. However, recent events suggest worrying […]