The United States (US) Committee on Foreign Affairs is set to convene a congressional hearing on Wednesday (February 8), for an exclusive discussion on Balochistan. The extraordinary event has generated great interest among followers of Pakistan-US relations, as the allies’ mutual relationship seems to be deteriorating. The powerful House of Representatives committee oversees America’s foreign assistance […]
Summary of the Past Year Many Pakistanis will remember 2011 as the year of infamy. Those who supported Islamic terrorist groups, including elements in the military, the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound that killed him on May 2nd, was an embarrassing exposure of Islamabad’s double-game. Those who passionately insisted upon more time, rather employing […]
As the debate over the post-2014 Afghanistan gains more attention, observers fear a ‘political earthquake’ in the country where the US troops’ withdrawal coincides with the next Afghan presidential elections. With the exit of the United States, Afghanistan’s economy and sources of financing the government in Kabul […]
If you did not get a chance to see the gruesome images from Pakistan when lawyers and educated youths showered rose petals on the murderer of a prominent governor, you are not too late. Thousands of Pakistanis are back on the roads supporting the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the liberal governor of the country’s most […]
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani convened a grand All Parties Conference (APC) in Islamabad on September 29 to develop consensus on a national stance in response to Admiral Mike Mullen’s allegations about links between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate and the Haqqani Network. According to the 13-point joint resolution, the “APC rejected the […]
Let’s not treat the current diplomatic standoff between the United States and Pakistan as the complete end of all ties. Both the countries have only punctuated the terms and conditions of their decade-old alliance. Had they spared a modicum of time back in 2001 to understand and respect the limits and ‘national interests’ of each […]
The following interview originally appeared on Dawn.com, Pakistan’s most respected English news source. I am reproducing it here for the interest of our readers. It’s a rare opportunity to come across an American diplomat who understands the South Asian culture and speaks fluent Urdu and Hindi. Former ambassador Teresita C. Schaffer, 66, is one of […]
What is more important: Securing Pakistan’s strategic relationship with the United States or asking what some may call the “tough questions”? The presence of Osama bin Laden in the country’s garrison town of Abbottabad may not have been in the knowledge of the top Pakistani military authorities but it is no coincidence that many other […]
A son of Salmaan Taseer, the liberal governor of the country’s powerful Punjab province who was shot dead by his own security guard in Islamabad in January, has been kidnapped by masked gunmen in Lahore. Taseer’s loss did not end the family’s miseries nor did the tragedy dissuade them to speak up for liberal values […]
Pakistanis do know that they have an image problem. They have a unique way of addressing this tough challenge. Many in Pakistan have historically believed that electing and appointing women to key posts can help improve the country’s unpopular international image. At a time when Islamabad’s diplomatic ties with Washington have reached their lowest ebb, […]
Courtesy: Dawn.com A veteran diplomat, Ms Wendy Chamberlin was serving as the US ambassador to Pakistan when terrorist struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. A former High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Chamberlin is currently the president of Middle East Institute, a prestigious think-tank […]
Courtesy: Dawn.com Sixty-eight year old Bob Woodward, an associate editor at the Washington Post, is considered one of America’s most informed investigative journalists. In 1972, his disclosure and consistent reporting with Carl Bernstein of the Watergate Scandal led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Woodward, a Pulitzer Prize winning author of 12 bestselling non-fictions, […]
The disillusioned community of journalists in Pakistan is directly blaming the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), a spy agency of the Pakistan army, for the killing of a renowned investigative reporter, Syed Saleem Shahzad, who worked as the Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times. The reputed correspondent went missing on May 29th on his way to […]
I thought you would be interested in this interview that I did last week for Dawn.com Pakistan’s respected news source. Dr. Stephen Philip Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, Washington DC, is a respected authority on the Pakistani army and the country’s politics. His book The Pakistan Army was published in 1998 and […]
The Asia Society last week released what it calls a unique sixty-one page report Pakistan 2020: A vision for Building a Better Future in New York and Washington DC. The report has endeavored to look at Pakistan from multiple lenses rather than solely focusing on the country’s security issues. A team of around thirty American […]