Diplomacy & geopolitics Archives

Pakistan’s engagement with the Gaza Board reflects a realist-humanitarian strategy that prioritizes influence, outcomes, and Palestinian rights over symbolic disengagement or diplomatic isolation.

Pakistan, Gaza, and the Case for Realist-Humanitarian Diplomacy

SAT Commentary January 28, 2026

As Gaza endures a prolonged humanitarian catastrophe, Pakistan’s decision to engage with the Board of Peace reflects a calculated shift from symbolic diplomacy to realist-humanitarianism. Rather than retreating into moral posturing, Islamabad has chosen presence as leverage, seeking to shape aid delivery, protect Palestinian priorities, and influence outcomes from within imperfect multilateral structures.

Pakistan’s decision to join Gaza’s Board of Peace exposes a stark dilemma: strategic engagement to influence outcomes, or moral complicity in a managed peace that sidelines Palestinians.

Realpolitik or Moral Complicity? Pakistan and Gaza’s Board of Peace

SAT Editorial Desk January 22, 2026

Pakistan’s entry into Gaza’s Board of Peace marks a historic departure from its traditional Palestinian policy. As Islamabad navigates an extra-legal, US-led governance framework that excludes Hamas and sidelines sovereignty, the question looms large: is participation a tool of influence, or an act of moral complicity?

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

SAT Commentary January 9, 2026

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.

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.

Afghanistan’s Taliban uses pharmaceutical policy to assert autonomy, decouple from Pakistan, and expand strategic ties with India.

Afghan Taliban’s Biopolitics

SAT Commentary December 18, 2025

The Taliban’s health diplomacy is reshaping Afghanistan’s geopolitical landscape. By phasing out Pakistani pharmaceuticals and inviting Indian partnerships, Kabul securitizes its healthcare infrastructure as a tool of strategic realignment. The shift highlights the intersection of sovereignty, economic statecraft, and regional influence, with Afghan patients bearing the immediate consequences.

Oil, Ports, and Proxies: The Battle for Hadhramawt and the Red Sea

SAT Editorial Desk December 9, 2025

The expulsion of Saudi-backed forces from Hadhramawt by UAE-aligned proxies signals the collapse of the Riyadh-Abu Dhabi alliance. In Yemen and Sudan, Abu Dhabi leverages non-state actors to secure ports, resources, and influence, while Riyadh prioritizes state stability and territorial consolidation. The result: a regional realignment where Gulf unity gives way to fierce intra-Gulf competition.

India’s Coercive Foreign Policy in 2025

Farwa Imtiaz December 9, 2025

India’s foreign policy in 2025 marks a clear break from its earlier soft-power orientation, shifting toward overt coercion and interference. Once seen as a restrained global actor, India now increasingly relies on hard power, diplomatic pressure, and transnational repression to shape external outcomes. Through cases in Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Türkiye, this article shows how India has adopted a more assertive—and often destabilizing—approach to protect its expanding ambitions, using tools ranging from foreign interference to military escalation and economic coercion.

A deep dive into how the Afghan Taliban weaponises anti-Pakistan rhetoric to mask governance failures, rising poverty, and Afghanistan’s growing security meltdown.

The Politics of Blame

SAT Editorial Desk November 30, 2025

Afghanistan’s leadership has responded to recent international backlash by amplifying a narrative that frames Pakistan as the root of all Afghan crises. This rhetoric, pushed by senior Taliban officials, serves as a diversion from Kabul’s own administrative paralysis, economic collapse, and its complicity in enabling militant groups like the TTP. As poverty deepens and Afghanistan becomes a hub for dozens of terrorist outfits, the politics of blame has become the Taliban’s primary tool for deflecting scrutiny.

Since Istanbul

SAT Editorial Desk November 25, 2025

The failure of the Istanbul talks marked a turning point. Within days, Pakistan faced coordinated suicide attacks and intensified TTP infiltration, revealing a dangerous shift in Kabul’s posture and the deepening crisis along the Durand Line.

A Temporary Equilibrium: India–Taliban Engagement and the Limits of Transactional Diplomacy

SAT Editorial Desk November 19, 2025

The visit of Afghanistan’s commerce minister to New Delhi signals a cautious thaw in India–Taliban ties, driven by mutual short-term imperatives. Yet four decades of path dependence, ideological hostility, and the AQIS–Taliban nexus render the détente fragile—more a tactical pause than a strategic reset.

South Asia Times

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