Amrullah Saleh Failed Intelligence Record Erases His Credibility
Amrullah Saleh’s recent critique of Pakistan’s counterterrorism approach lands awkwardly when measured against his own record. Public figures who preside over intelligence failures and political collapse lose moral authority to lecture neighbouring states on strategy and resilience. Saleh’s claim that many businesses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pay both ransom to militants and taxes to the state […]
National Security and Individual Freedom: Understanding Dr. A.Q. Khan’s House Arrest
Every 6th of September, Pakistan commemorates 1965: the year when its forces, comprising soldiers, airmen and sailors, fought against an enemy outnumbered, outarmed, outgunned and out-resourced and still managed to hold their ground, for fear of being coerced into surrender. The whole purpose of Defence Day is to remind the people of Pakistan that size […]
Taliban Systematic Oppression of Hazara and Shia Minorities Exposes Authoritarian Rule
The escalating systematic discrimination and targeted oppression directed at Afghanistan’s Hazara and Shia communities by the Taliban administration expose the fundamentally exclusionary nature of its rule. Rather than constructing an inclusive state apparatus, the regime has institutionalized a deliberate campaign aimed at erasing the religious, legal, and political identity of minority populations. This calculated marginalization […]
Pakistan Air Force: A Legacy Tested Anew in a Turbulent Region
Every September 7, Pakistan marks PAF Day, the anniversary of the 1965 war. In that war, a young air force, flying a fraction of the aircraft fielded by its much larger neighbour, held the skies over Sargodha, Lahore, Karachi and Sialkot. The mythology around that war has grown over six decades. The underlying fact, though, […]
Beyond Biology: How Menstruation Shapes Women’s Experiences of Campus Life
She was a medical student, trained to stay calm under pressure, but during her periods, the hours of standing and walking that clinical postings demanded pushed her body past its limits. “The lecturers just scream at me for not being responsible,” she recalled. She had almost fainted multiple times. But nobody asked her why. Stories […]
This Defence Day, Pakistan’s Resolve Extends Beyond the Battlefield
On 6 September 1965, Pakistan’s soldiers, airmen, and sailors stood against an adversary that outmatched them in almost every conventional metric: manpower, armour, aircraft, and reserves. India’s military planners had calculated, not unreasonably on paper, that a swift push toward Lahore would end the contest before it began. What they had not accounted for was […]
A Resurgent Iran and the Liers in Waiting
Over the last six months of war between Iran and US-Isarel, Iran has gained preponderance as a country standing tall despite losses it suffered. Iran had no choice but to retaliate the war thrusted on it without credible reasoning. It was in talks with the US on nuclear issue and suddenly a poorly planned aggression […]
Post-Assad Syria and the Struggle for a New Security Architecture
Israeli Strategic Gains, Turkish Power Projection and the Emerging Security Dilemma When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in a political earthquake on 8 December 2024, it was far more than a mere political transition that occurred. The amount of time Bashar al Assad was in place Israel was up against a Syrian military establishment backed by […]
US Rejection of Mineral Diplomacy Exposes Taliban’s Deepening Economic and Diplomatic Isolation
The public overture by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi inviting American capital into Afghanistan’s critical mineral, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors represents a calculated yet fundamentally flawed diplomatic maneuver. By offering access to the country’s vast, unexploited mineral reserves, the regime sought to leverage commercial interest to bypass its international isolation and secure sanctions relief. […]