By Sajjad Shaukat One of the important causes of the disintegration of the former Soviet Union was that its greater defence expenditure exceeded to the maximum, resulting into economic crisis inside the country. In this regard, about a prolonged war in Afghanistan, the former President Gorbachev had declared it as the “bleeding wound.” However, militarization of the Soviet Union failed in controlling the mo ...

Post Tillerson’s visit By Yasmeen Ali  Two different narratives seemingly appeared upon US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit. Narratives that are not new. Both US and Pakistan need to understand the thought process of each other, to then seek a common ground to achieve peace in Afghanistan. The conflict in Afghanistan is of the pre-trump era. According to Steve Bannon Donald Trump’s ex-White House Ch ...

by Asif Haroon Raja Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi enjoyed best of relations with USA as well as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Their relations dipped to lowest ebb once Imam Khomeini came to power in March 1979 and the King had to take refuge in Cairo. Iran under Khomeini crashed the twin pillar policy of USA for the Middle East based on Iran and KSA. Islamic revolution in Iran which had a ripple effect in t ...

By Sajjad Shaukat Although 27th of October is celebrated every year as the “Black Day” by the Pakistanis and the Kashmiris all over the world as a protest against Indian illegal occupation of Kashmir on October 27, 1947, yet this time, this very day has come at time when the people of Kashmir have accelerated their legitimate struggle in the aftermath of the martyrdom of the young Kashmir leader Burhan Wani ...

By Asif Haroon Raja The US-North Korea antagonism has its roots in the 1952-3 Korean War which had divided the country. While North Korea is backed by Russia and China, South Korea is protected by the US and it has a large military presence in the country. In order to ward off impending danger posed by USA and its allies, North Korea despite being an impoverished country, developed nuclear bombs and missile ...

By Ishaal Zehra Diwali, a Hindu ritual, has just wrapped up and so is the hearing of the case pertinent to Article 35A of Jammu and Kashmir’s state legislature. The plea was likely to be heard on August 29, but the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Government sought for some more time to file their respective replies, as a result of which the hearing was postponed until after the Diwali holidays. The matter ...

By Sajjad Shauka Every year, United Nations Day is celebrated on October 24. On this day in 1945, the United Nations (UN) came into force when the five permanent members of the Security Council ratified its charter This followed a declaration by the UN General Assembly in 1947 which designated 24th of October as United Nations Day, by proclaiming that the day would be instrumental in making people aware of ...

By Sajjad Shaukat Renowned historians agree that besides other causes, major cause of the French Revolution of 1789 was the class distinction between the privileged and the unprivileged, which rapidly increased under the reign of King Louis XVI who had continued the policy of taking out international loans, and the debt drove the country to near bankruptcy, leading to the Revolution. They opine, “The French ...