Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Pakistan US relationship

The Hawk Some Didn't See Coming

The Hawk Some Didn't See Coming

Zainab Jeewanjee addresses the idea that President Obama is “changing tones” on foreign policy. An article in DAWN news suggests he is not living up to expectations on his foreign policy to Pakistan. Jeewanjee explains that he however is. Hawkishness on his part was promised from the onset of his campaign trail.

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Considering the ISI

United States General McChrystal explains that Iran’s Quds Force and Pakistan’s ISI are aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, undermining US efforts and interests in the War on Terror. His remarks are useful in drawing out history of extremist groups in the region and the ISI’s dealings with Afghanistan during and after the Soviet Afghan War. That history shows that Pakistan has no significant links to Al Qaeda, the perpetrators of 9/11 and links with the Taliban were dictated by our interests in funding Mujahideen forces to counter Soviets int he 1980’s.

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Local Body Elections Can Help Pakistan

There is a new controversy brewing in Pakistan about the local governments. Musharraf government had introduced a system under which local body elections were held and Nazims (a Nazim is like a mayor) were directly elected. However, the problem is that Nazims had very little authority to begin with and now that the current government, […]

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Karachi Trouble

According to a report in Dawn, Pakistan government has lost billions in revenue because of the chaos that was caused by rain in Karachi. This is not good news. There is no question that this rain in Karachi broke all records, at least for the last 30 years, but the response from those who were […]

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Please Be Serious & Take Responsibility

In an excellent piece in Daily Times, the writer deplored the conspiracy theorists in Pakistan claiming that the US is working on re-drawing the map of Asia, and there is no room for Pakistan in this ‘new map’. The writer correctly pointed out that this type of hysterical notions have been claiming that Pakistan is […]

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Nawaz & Zardari Meeting

I am not a fan of Asif Zardari, but I have to give him credit for swallowing his ego, yet again, and going to meet Nawaz Sharif at Sharif’s residence. Given Pakistan’s awful economical and political situation, I do admire Zardari’s commitment to finding common ground with as many political parties as possible to keep […]

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Latest in Pakistan

The good thing is that Prime Minster Gilani has called all the major political parties to share the outcome of this meeting with Indian Prime Minister. This is a wonderful development in a country where everything is slowly sliding back towards stone age. I am sure that my readers would be surprised to read that […]

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Water & electricity shortage

Despite my positive outlook about life, I get extremely depressed when I look at Pakistan as an observer from outside. At times, I just don’t know how can the country deal with serious issues threatening Pakistan’s very existence. For me, one way is to stick my head in sand and keep pretending that all is […]

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Name one thing wrong!

It is fashionable in Pakistan to oppose America. Perhaps, it is a phobia that has gripped the country that America is bad. Or, it is just plain stupidity that people in Pakistan love to be anti American. No matter how you look at it, there is a campaign in Pakistan against the United States of […]

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Imran in America

As I have discussed yesterday, Taliban supporter and anti American politician, who by the way has failed for 10 years in politics is in America. Apparently, he is there to raise funds for the victims of Swat Operation. Well, only in America. Yes, only in America can a man like Imran Khan, who supports the […]

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Why is Imran in Houston?

Imran Khan, a failed politician in Pakistan was in Houston recently. While there, his tone was totally different from what people hear him in Pakistan. When he speaks in Pakistan, he rails against the great Satan, America (according to him), but he selects his words carefully when he is in the States. Double standard? Yes, […]

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Interesting Exchange

Pakistan’s internal disputes are serious, but rarely do outsiders notice anything. Here is an example. Below, you’d find an article written by a gentleman in Northern Virginia. One of his readers responded favorably, but another reader reacted sharply, and this response should help the readers understand the simmering tensing inside Pakistan. I have removed the […]

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Pakistan's victory in T 20

Pakistan won the T20 tournament in England defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. Congrats to the team and to the nation as this was no small victory. It was a very tough tournament and Pakistan’s team proved to be the very best in the end. As always, the team started slowly, lost couple of matches […]

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T twenty win & Obama's interview!

Good news – Pakistan won the T twenty tournament by defeating Sri Lanka in the final last night in England. Wow, what a match, and what a tournament for Pakistan. The country needed something big, something spectacular, and this victory did just that. It indeed boosted Pakistan’s moral and it is going to bring the […]

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Karachi without electricity

Citizens of Karachi have been without electricity for 22 hours! Yes, 22 hours in this excruciating heat. Electricity went out without any plausible reason and there was no answer or definitive time frame about electricity restoration from the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation. So, people were left with no option but to curse the government and […]

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