424 results found
This issue brief assesses the enduring political influence of the military in Pakistan. It delves into the historical, social, and geopolitical factors that have propelled the military's rise in the nation's governance structure. The brief also examines the military-bureaucratic nexus and its role in perpetuating military dominance, and the implications of a weak civil society and its constrained ability to counterbalance military power.
A transformation is sweeping Saudi Arabia, and certain elements of it can be attributed to ‘Vision 2030’, a strategic plan launched in 2016. The vision—framed by a paradigm shift in the country’s economic, social, and cultural landscape—will have implications beyond Saudi Arabia itself, given the country’s position as leader of the Arab and Islamic world. The biggest challenge to such a metamorphosis is adoption among citizens, who wi
The September 29 strike was different in a significant way that not only did the Narendra Modi government own it, but also publicised it.
To counter Islamabad’s determined push to stir up trouble in the Kashmir Valley, India will have to formulate a new counter-terrorism strategy that
2003 was an important year in the evolution of China¿s counter-terrorism policy. In December last, its Ministry of Public Security issued a list of identified 'Eastern Turkistan' terrorist organizations. Figuring in the list are the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC),
China is facing a pushback in Afghanistan as Islamist militants increasingly target Chinese interests
China’s perception management through the guided tours in Xinjiang has received backlash from several Islamic quarters
Since 9/11, both China and the US have one concern in common - the threat of 'Islamic' terrorism. On December 15 2003, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued a list of four terrorist organisations and eleven terrorists that pose a threat to China's security.
Beijing’s growing interest in co-conspiring with Pakistan on Afghan soil adds to the growing tensions in the subcontinent, heightening concern over
Young Suryanarayana is a life that has been cut in its prime. He was the vic- tim of a bigoted doctrine taught in Pakistan for nearly three decades; for the Taliban are only another manifestation of the Islamist drive of General Zia-ul-Haq. The Indian died in a terrorist act after his abduc- tors demanded that all 2,500 Indians in Afghanistan vacate immediately. It was an absurd demand and no government would ever have agreed to it.
Countering the militancy in Kashmir has become a highly challenging task due to the exploitation of new information and communication technology by insurgent groups. The battlefield is now a multidimensional one, encompassing both physical territory and cyberspace. The overall capabilities of insurgents have been enhanced by tools in cyberspace that are inexpensive, ever more sophisticated, rapidly proliferating, and easy to use. Militants are sy
While the community needed to address the elephant in the room and could not be absolved of its responsibility for wrongful acts by the Tablighi Jama
Islamabad’s inability to control elements in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is proving to be a major hurdle in the execution of the CPEC project.
There was space in Pakistan for open discourse upto the Zia period. It is from Zia's Pakistan that poets like Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ahmad Faraz began to leave for other countries. From London, Farigh Bukhari wailed: "God, forgive me: these days it seems that Islam was only for tyrants and murderers like Yazid"
The Observer Research Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Contemporary Conflict (CCC), Naval Post-graduate School, California, USA, and the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Pakistan undertook a project, Crisis and Escalation in South Asia: The 2002 India-Pakistan Military Standoff....
To arrest the spread of brutal Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the US must go in with a limited military mission, thus aiding the process of bringing stability in Iraq and the region at large. However, it should not look at staying in Iraq for a long haul.
History is all set to repeat itself in the subcontinent. As usual, the search for a permanent thaw in the India-Pakistan relationship seems to be hitting a big bump in the days ahead that might possibly derail the bilateral negotiation process initiated during the Islamabad SAARC Summit in January this year.
The killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer on January 4 in Islamabad and the wide-spread adulation of his killer, a Punjab Police commando, has raised a whole litany of fears and dilemma in, and about, Pakistan.
The emergence of Bangladesh as the new hub of international Islamist terrorism, insurgency in Nepal and Maoist militancy across several states, add new challenges to national security threats that India traditionally tackles. Despite these, India's defence expenditure continues to decrease in real terms and as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year.
If Maldives becomes the biggest radical Islamic cell using the present political situation in the country, it would affect every nation in the Indian Ocean region as a huge part of trade in the Indian Ocean passes through the Maldives, according to former President Mr. Muhamed Nasheed.
Terrorism in Chechnya has three major trajectories ' first, the terrorist campaign of the Chechens and others who are a part of the international terrorist network and who derive legitimacy from Islamic fundamentalism and whose fight is not just against the alleged oppression of the Russian state, but also to establish Islamic rule in Chechnya and to facilitate its integration with the pan-Islamic world.
On the eve of the February 18 elections, no two people in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi were agreed on the certainty of elections taking place. Elections cannot take place, it was argued then, because the establishment will not risk an open-ended process which might produce inconvenient results. In the Pakistani context, the establishment has always meant the Army, the bureaucracy, big landlords and the United States.
Saying that there is a proven link between the two types of terrorists - sectarian and Taliban -- Maj. Gen. Mahmud Durrani stresses the need for carrying out educational reforms and popularising a counter-narrative to Taliban's interpretation of Islam.
With Al Qaeda far from being vanquished, and Pakistan and Bangladesh inevitably turning into jihadi outposts in the emerging pan-Islamist network in Asia, India is more than likely to be caught in the vicious tail-wind of the next wave of terrorism, gathering momentum since 9/11.
For him, Turkey is the Islamic power awaiting its due, and while it does not have the oil dollars backing its fragile economy, it is still working hard to create its own narratives and influence zones across the region.
The Libyan revolt was led by a group called the National Conference of the Libyan opposition, founded in London in 2005. Can overseas Libyans make a revolution? If Qaddafi survives, will not opposition to his soft Islam be the harder version of the faith?
India’s ties with Yemen date back two millennia, with the Middle Eastern nation playing a strategic role in India-Middle East relations
How will Erdogan manage his aspiration for Turkey to be a global Islamic power, whilst maintaining economic and political steam at home remains to be
Conflict resolution and political problem-solving in other countries are not traits that Chinese diplomats excel at. It remains to be seen how China walks this tightrope in Afghanistan, which remains a fractured crucible of contradictory ethnic and political interests
While CPEC will flush billions into the struggling Pakistan economy and rapidly speed up its development infrastructure, it is also one part of China'
The cracks in the world order provide terrorist outfits ample space to regroup and reorganise
The means to spread terror may have changed but the modes to deal with it have to evolve for terrorism of the future.
India lacks resources and direct access to Afghanistan, but it can derive some comfort from the fact that, if the past is any guide, you can always trust Islamabad to give us the opening through its propensity to overreach.
Hamas was never a household name beyond a point unlike Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Until now
The thaw in the India-Pak relations has opened a new window of opportunity. In the first stage, it will assist in India hosting the Heart of Asia conference next year and may also lead to a fruitful visit by Modi to Islamabad for the SAARC Summit.
The Syrian crisis, at its current juncture, looks set for a prolonged battle.
With pan-Islamic and Pakistan-based terrorist organisations weaponising the deluge of footage from the Gaza Strip, their propaganda will impact terror
Though nobody is sure what will be the outcome of the march to Islamabad, it is clear that Pakistan is in for a period of continued instability
Syria and Iraq are no longer just a do-and-kill struggle being enacted by extreme radical Islamists in their brutal search for a Caliphate. The Big Boys - US and Russia -- are now out in the open, the gloves are off and mind games are now being played.
As the US provokes Iran, the onus is on Europe to somehow stand by its end of the nuclear deal
In less than a week, more than 100 people have been killed by terror group Boko Haram in the northern part of Nigeria. This brutal Islamic group remains a significant problem confronting the democratic government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Pakistan army has commenced openly supporting internal religious and fundamentalist groups. If these parties rise to power, Pakistan’s internal
Samir Saran, President of ORF, spoke to New Age's Shahidul Islam Chowdhury about the various matters affecting India-Bangladesh relations, including t
As a nation impacted heavily by terrorism, India has done well to continue to bring the world back to focus on the issue that was receding from global headlines.
Long sidelined by Islamabad, Moscow, and Beijing, New Delhi is finally taking a seat at the table.
It could even consider participating in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, subject to Islamabad fulfilling a few conditions.
