Commentary: Informed Opinions on Current Events

$Renewed fighting in Hadramout exposes the collapse of the Riyadh Agreement, fracturing Yemen’s anti-Houthi coalition and threatening regional security.$

Yemen’s War Within a War

SAT Commentary January 3, 2026

Renewed hostilities in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout governorate signal more than a local power struggle—they reveal a deep structural fracture within the anti-Houthi camp. As UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces push into areas held by Saudi-supported government units, the collapse of the Riyadh Agreement risks reviving extremist sanctuaries, destabilizing Red Sea security, and accelerating Yemen’s slide toward permanent partition.

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

SAT Commentary January 2, 2026

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.

A Fugitive Insurgency

SAT Commentary January 1, 2026

The TTP’s 2025 report projects an image of renewed strength and nationwide reach. In reality, it reflects a border-bound, fugitive insurgency using inflated statistics and psychological warfare to mask sustained pressure from Pakistan’s intelligence-led counter-terrorism campaign and the regional impact of instability in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s Purge of Former Afghan Officials

SAT Commentary January 1, 2026

The killing of General Akramuddin Saree in Tehran signals that the Taliban’s campaign against former Afghan officials has gone transnational. It reveals a dark convergence of Taliban intelligence operations and regional transactional politics that sacrifice political exiles for short-term stability.

US-Pakistan Cooperation in Trade, Technology, and Minerals

SAT Commentary December 31, 2025

Natalie Baker signals a historic shift in the US-Pakistan ties, focusing on Reko Diq, agriculture, Fulbright programs, and a Green Alliance to strengthen trade, technology, and climate resilience.

Weaponizing Civilian Infrastructure

SAT Commentary December 31, 2025

Emerging security reports allege that civilian aviation and major transport hubs may be quietly repurposed as logistical conduits for the TTP. While unverified, these claims reinforce Pakistan’s long-standing warnings about external facilitation, plausible deniability, and the use of civilian infrastructure in grey-zone conflict along the western border.

How Taliban’s Performative Governance Masks Gender Apartheid

SAT Commentary December 31, 2025

Behind Taliban social media showcases of female factory work lies a Potemkin model of governance. Selective visibility and performative economics obscure a system of gender apartheid, educational exclusion, and long-term economic decline. Drawing on UN and rights-group data, this analysis exposes how propaganda-driven inclusion narratives collapse under empirical scrutiny.

The Enduring Consequences of America’s Exit from Afghanistan

SAT Commentary December 25, 2025

The 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan was more than the end of a long war, it was a poorly executed exit that triggered the rapid collapse of the Afghan state. The fall of Kabul, the Abbey Gate attack, and the return of militant groups exposed serious gaps in planning and coordination.

The Afghan Crucible

SAT Commentary December 24, 2025

Recent reporting underscores Afghanistan’s transformation into a strategic hub for transnational jihadist networks. Far from being a localized security problem, the Afghan landscape now functions as an ideological, logistical, and digital anchor linking extremist affiliates across Africa, Southeast Asia, and beyond, signaling the collapse of regional containment and the rise of a globalized threat architecture.

Healthcare as Statecraft in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan

SAT Commentary December 23, 2025

Afghanistan’s recent shift away from Pakistani pharmaceutical imports toward Indian suppliers marks a dangerous transformation of healthcare into a tool of geopolitical signaling. Framed as regulatory reform, this pivot reflects a broader biopolitical strategy in which access to medicine is subordinated to diplomatic recalibration, with profound ethical and humanitarian consequences for an already vulnerable population.

South Asia Times

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