Posted By Zaheerul Hassan November 26, 2012 "Jerusalem Post" - November 22, 2012  - -Hamas leader says he'll move to a peaceful path contingent on the "end of the occupation" and Palestinian statehood. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal declared a position on Palestinian statehood that is nearly identical to that of his Fatah rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an interview with CNN aired Wed ...

bY Rasul Bakhsh Rais There are many ways leaders of a nation can isolate themselves from the rest of the world. It is not mere geography, terrain or lack of communication facility but a mindset. Afghanistan has been historically isolated for some of the above reasons, but today, doing so voluntarily or under foreign coercion would work against self-interest. No rational, practical leaders in the contemporar ...

Asif Haroon Raja Although the US has failed to win war in Afghanistan, it has to an extent succeeded in weakening Pakistan from within through covert war to be able to denuclearize it. As against the advice of India, the US desisted from applying direct strategy due to Pakistan’s nuclear capability. The US and its strategic partners therefore embarked upon a well-thought plan to gradually weaken Pakistan an ...

By Ali Gharib With the ceasefire in Gaza holding, despite some early hiccups, Israeli and American officials are spinning the brief war by porting its lessons over to a potential conflict with Iran. The comparison was made most poignantly in a New York Times article on Friday where officials from Israel and the U.S. described the recent fighting as "something of a practice run for any future armed confronta ...

Posted By Zaheerul Hassan Islamabad: Pakistan's teenaged rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for standing up against the terror outfit and pushing for education for girls, has been ranked sixth by Foreign Policy magazine in its top 100 global thinkers list. Aung San Suu Kyi, who continues her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, is ranked first on the list which also features former ...

By ŞAHİN ALPAY I wrote last week that the recent Israeli aggression against Gaza is a test for US President Barack Obama as to whether he will keep his word from 2009 and work towards a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict now that he has been re-elected. A cease-fire was reached once more, after scores of Palestinians were killed and Gaza was once more ravaged, but there is no indication ...

By Adam Shatz The ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas in Cairo after eight days of fighting is merely a pause in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It promises to ease movement at all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, but will not lift the blockade. It requires Israel to end its assault on the Strip, and Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at southern Israel, but it leaves Gaza as miserable as eve ...

 Asif Haroon Raja Although the US has failed to win war in Afghanistan, it has succeeded in achieving most objectives it had chalked out in September 2001 against Pakistan through covert war. As against the advice of India, the US desisted from applying direct strategy due to Pakistan’s nuclear capability. The US and its strategic partners therefore embarked upon a well-thought plan to gradually weaken Paki ...