Diplomacy & geopolitics - South Asia Times

The Great Unknotting: America’s Tech Break with China, and the Return of the American System

Emir J. Phillips October 29, 2025

As the U.S. unwinds decades of technological interdependence with China, a new industrial and strategic order is emerging. Through selective decoupling, focused on chips, AI, and critical supply chains, Washington aims to restore domestic manufacturing, secure data sovereignty, and revive the Hamiltonian vision of national self-reliance. This is not isolationism but a recalibration of globalization on America’s terms.

Inside the Istanbul Talks: How Taliban Factionalism Killed a Peace Deal

SAT Editorial Desk October 28, 2025

The collapse of the Turkiye-hosted talks to address the TTP threat was not a diplomatic failure but a calculated act of sabotage from within the Taliban regime. Deep factional divides—between Kandahar, Kabul, and Khost blocs—turned mediation into chaos, as Kabul’s power players sought to use the TTP issue as leverage for U.S. re-engagement and financial relief. The episode exposed a regime too fractured and self-interested to act against terrorism or uphold sovereignty.

The Indo-Afghan Arc: Rewriting Pakistan’s Strategic Geography

Sultan Mehmood Hali October 27, 2025

The deepening India-Afghanistan engagement marks a new strategic era in South Asia. Beneath the façade of humanitarian cooperation lies a calculated effort to constrict Pakistan’s strategic space, from intelligence leverage and soft power projection to potential encirclement on both eastern and western fronts. Drawing from the insights of Iqbal and Khushhal Khan Khattak, this analysis argues that Pakistan must reclaim its strategic selfhood, strengthen regional diplomacy, and transform its western border from a vulnerability into a vision of regional connectivity and stability.

Pakistan’s rejection of a Taliban proposal to include the TTP in Turkey talks reaffirmed its sovereignty and refusal to legitimize terrorism.

Legitimacy, Agency, and the Illusion of Mediation

SAT Editorial Desk October 26, 2025

The recent talks in Turkey, attended by Afghan representatives, exposed the delicate politics of legitimacy and agency in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. By rejecting the Taliban’s proposal to include the TTP, Pakistan safeguarded its sovereignty and avoided legitimizing a militant group as a political actor, preserving its authority and strategic narrative.

Shifting Sands: How Multipolar Pragmatism Is Redefining Global Alliances

Sundus Safeer October 21, 2025

The world is entering an era of multipolar pragmatism where ideology no longer defines alliances. From NATO’s internal divides to BRICS expansion and regional realignments, states now pursue transactional partnerships driven by national interests. This fluid diplomacy creates both opportunities for middle powers and uncertainty in global governance.

Pakistan’s Stability: A Silent Pillar of US Strategic Interests

Alisha Zahra October 9, 2025

Long seen through a security lens, Pakistan is now redefining its role in US strategy, as a supplier of critical minerals, a connectivity hub between Central and South Asia, and a stabilizing force in a volatile region. Amid global competition with China and shifting energy dynamics, Washington increasingly views Pakistan’s stability not as a choice but as a strategic necessity anchoring its economic and geopolitical interests across Asia.

The Nobel Peace Prize or War Prize? A History of Controversial Laureates

SAT Editorial Desk October 8, 2025

Far from being an impartial recognition of pacifism, the Nobel Peace Prize’s legacy is marred by controversial laureates whose actions have been linked to immense violence. The prize is not a universal arbiter of peace but a political instrument reflecting a Western-centric worldview, rewarding figures who align with its geopolitical interests, regardless of the blood on their hands.

Eighty Years Later: Is the United Nations Becoming the League of Nations 2.0?

Ayesha Noor October 8, 2025

Eighty years after the UN’s creation to “save succeeding generations from war,” the organization stands at a breaking point. With veto paralysis, waning U.S. commitment, and global disillusionment, is the UN becoming the very institution it replaced—the League of Nations 2.0?

An analysis of a false Financial Times report on a Pakistan-US port deal, its journalistic flaws, and its weaponization for political gain.

Geopolitics, Journalism, and the Anatomy of a False Narrative

SAT Commentary October 5, 2025

A recent Financial Times story claimed Pakistan was pitching a new Arabian Sea port to the US Built on anonymous sources and logical flaws, the report was quietly corrected. This article dissects how the flimsy reporting was weaponized by domestic and regional actors to push a false narrative, revealing more about their political agendas than Pakistan’s foreign policy.

An analysis of the Trump Gaza peace plan. Despite Hamas's surprise support, deep divides over security and sovereignty threaten any chance of lasting peace.

The Promises and Perils of the New Gaza Plan

SAT Editorial Desk October 5, 2025

A new Gaza peace plan by Donald Trump has international backing and a surprising partial acceptance from Hamas. However, its journey toward lasting peace is threatened by critical deal-breakers and the unresolved core question of Palestinian political sovereignty.