By Zaheerul Hassan What is Arab Spring The ‘Arab Spring’ appeared in the Arab World in December 2010 and covered all most entire Arab World in 2011. However, Egypt has emerged as the most iconic manifestation of it and gave jolt to the leading and powerful nation in the ‘Arab World’. It also shaken the monarchism, hit the nerve centre and forced the rulers either to start with democracy or spend more on the ...

By Asif Haroon Raja Indians are notorious for their impulsiveness and impish behavior and are famous for shooting first and taking aim later. Till recent the wrath of India’s heavy-handed tactics fell upon its neighbors, particularly on its chief rival Pakistan. Assuming itself to be a potential world power, it seems India has started to show eyes to its chief mentor which has since 1991 gone out of the way ...

World View: Everyone knows where al-Qa'ida gets its money, but while the violence is sectarian, the West does nothing By Patrick Cockburn Donors in Saudi Arabia have notoriously played a pivotal role in creating and maintaining Sunni jihadist groups over the past 30 years. But, for all the supposed determination of the United States and its allies since 9/11 to fight "the war on terror", they have showed as ...

By Asif Haroon Raja The interim nuclear deal signed between Iran and P5 plus 1 in Geneva on November 24 has apparently defused the explosive situation in Middle East. It has been widely hailed as the triumph of diplomacy. President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javed Zarif are being applauded for their pragmatism and for averting a catastrophic war in the making. High sounding names such as historic, ...

By Asif Haroon Raja Iran-US antagonism started peaking in the aftermath of Islamic revolution in Iran, followed by seizure of American Embassy in Tehran by student militants in November 1979 and holding 52 Americans hostage for next 444 days. An American rescue operation ended in a disaster, which further bolstered Khomeini’s image in Iran and Islamic world. Hostages were released as a result of secret agre ...

Asif Haroon Raja During the Reza Shah Pahlavi era in Iran from 1953 to March 1979, Iran-Pakistan relations were extraordinarily warm. Iran supported Kashmir cause, extended military support during 1965 Indo-Pak war and full diplomatic support in the 1971 war with India. Iran helped in quashing 1973 insurgency in Balochistan. After Shah’s departure, certain events like Islamic revolution in Iran, Jihad again ...

By Asif Haroon Raja Nawaz led team is thinking and talking high and has announced highly ambitious mega projects which it intends completing during its mandated five-year tenure expiring in May 2018. Some of the main projects include Pak-China economic corridor linking Kashgar with Gawadar by Highway and rail, converting Gawadar into free port like Hong Kong, bullet train, Lahore-Karachi motorway, metro sys ...

By Abu Ezaan Halford Mackinder's concepts have assumed classic status in the world of political geography today. One of the most significant ideas of Mackinder, which is often referred to, states that control of Eastern Europe would bring command of the ‘Heartland,’ thus control of the ‘World-Island’ (Eurasia), and ultimately the ‘World’. The South Asia, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan being part of t ...