Themes

Bagram Airbase, US Aid, and Afghanistan’s Strategic-Humanitarian Dilemma

Bagram Airbase, US Aid, and Afghanistan’s Strategic-Humanitarian Dilemma

Sources suggest the Taliban has offered immediate access to Bagram Airbase for potential strikes against Iran in exchange for continued U.S. aid. Beyond military leverage, the offer underscores Afghanistan’s acute humanitarian crisis and the Taliban’s reliance on external support, highlighting the complex interplay between strategy, politics, and survival in a fragile state.

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Is Social Media Neutral?

Is Social Media Neutral?

Social media platforms are not neutral arenas of free expression. Powered by opaque algorithms and AI-driven amplification, they increasingly shape political narratives and public perception, prompting non-Western states to frame platform regulation not as censorship, but as a question of digital and cognitive sovereignty.

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The Mainstreaming of Islamophobia

The Mainstreaming of Islamophobia

The attack on a Victorian Imam and his wife in Melbourne is not an isolated crime but the logical outcome of a political climate that has normalized Islamophobia. As anti-Muslim rhetoric moves from the fringes into mainstream Western discourse, religious identity is recast as a security threat, creating the conditions for violence and unequal protection under the law.

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Pakistan’s shift from arms importer to defense exporter reveals how indigenous military industry has become central to sovereignty in a fragmented global order.

Pakistan’s Defense Industrial Breakout

As the liberal international order fragments, Pakistan has executed a decisive shift from defense dependency to indigenous production. Through exports, combat validation, and joint industrialization, Islamabad is redefining sovereignty as an industrial and diplomatic asset.

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Andy Halus’s interview signals a shift in US–Pakistan relations toward minerals, education, and soft power, marking a post-security partnership in 2026.

The New Architecture of US–Pakistan Relations

Andy Halus’s interview signals a strategic shift in US–Pakistan relations from security-centric ties to a multidimensional partnership centered on minerals, education, and soft power. Projects like Reko Diq now stand as the key test of this new architecture.

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The New Dutch Disease

The New Dutch Disease

The Dutch Disease has evolved. In today’s Global South, it is no longer driven only by oil and gas but by aid, remittances, and strategic rents that create fragile, consumption-led economies while eroding state capacity, productivity, and social trust.

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The Structural Costs of Hindutva Governance

The Structural Costs of Hindutva Governance

India’s shift toward Hindutva governance has transformed identity into policy. As citizenship, culture, and power merge, over 28 crore minorities are pushed to the margins—fracturing institutions, normalising exclusion, and leaving long-term scars on the republic’s social fabric.

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Pakistan’s IT sector and Digital Nation Act 2025 offer a scalable path to break the current account deficit and escape chronic economic volatility.

Pakistan’s Digital Escape Route

Pakistan’s reliance on import-heavy exports has repeatedly triggered balance-of-payments crises. The Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025 positions IT as a zero-raw-material export capable of delivering scalable growth, fiscal stability, and long-term economic resilience.

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