Evolving Middle Eastern imperatives on the Indo-Pakistan rivalry
It was no surprise to see Pakistan’s new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, choose Saudi Arabia as the destination of his first official visit. What was more surprising, however, was the joint announcement that emerged from the trip, which called on Pakistan and India to resolve their outstanding disputes, especially the Jammu and Kashmir problem. There are several factors that have impelled Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to take on the tricky task of mediating the protracted rivalry between the two key South Asian states.
Though Tehran continues to engage the government in Kabul in a pragmatic fashion, Iran and the Taliban are not traditional friends or allies; they share an uneasy relationship. There is a sectarian angle to their differences and a long-standing dispute over water resources. Yet Iran has sought to normalize relations due to broader geopolitical considerations, security concerns, and perceived economic opportunities.
The newly formed government coalition in Islamabad initially looked weak, unstable, and probably short lived. But in the weeks since the outcome of the vote was announced, the political landscape has rapidly changed. Nevertheless, there are portents of trouble ahead that could send Pakistan back into the political tangle from which it has so recently emerged.
Women’s rights under the Taliban: The socio-economic consequences of political exclusion
One of the first things the Taliban did after capturing power in August 2021 was to abolish the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and re-establish the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The environment within which Afghan girls and women had found avenues of employment, education, and empowerment over the previous two decades had been lost. Many families now had to deal with acute poverty, mental health issues, and even suicides.
In his new book, Steve Coll casts doubt on whether Iraqi intelligence had actually tried to assassinate former President George H. W. Bush in Kuwait in April 1993. If the Kuwait plot were a fabrication, it would fit yet another brick in the wall of many well documented falsehoods and misunderstandings that led to the US invasion. Unfortunately for that allegation, the plot was very likely to have been quite real.
“Exporting its internal problems”: Understanding Iran’s January missile salvos against its neighbors
In mid-January, with the war in Gaza continuing to rage on, Iran launched a series of surprise missile attacks on its immediate neighbors Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan over two days. Taken together, these attacks illustrate that the Islamic Republic puts regime survival above national interest in its foreign policy calculations, which undermines its efforts to engender solidarity and good relations with other Muslim-majority states in the region.
On this week’s episode Tamkinet Karim, Syed Mohammad Ali, and Alistair Taylor discuss the results of Pakistan’s Feb. 8 elections and where things might be headed moving forward. Over the past two years, Pakistan has gone through a particularly turbulent period, following the removal of Imran Khan’s government in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 — a time marked by political instability, intense polarization, a worsening economic crisis, and growing threats to internal security.
Contrary to what many political observers predicted, Pakistan’s general election on Feb. 8 delivered many surprises and ushered in an even higher level of political uncertainty than what already prevailed. And with the current formation of the new coalition government, an end to political volatility doesn’t seem to be in sight.
The Political Economy of Climate Governance in Afghanistan: An Analysis of the Context and Challenges
Even though it is one of the world’s lowest emitters of greenhouse gases, Afghanistan is among the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change and severe weather conditions. Recent economic and humanitarian challenges, compounded by a political crisis of legitimacy and governance, exacerbate the situation, limiting the country’s ability to mitigate climate-induced fragility and build long-term resilience.
