Afghanistan – A Long Way from Anywhere

Canberra, 20 September 2016 Afghanistan has been teetering at the edge of a precipice ever since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The situation has become further precarious, if such a thing is possible at all, after the current President Ashraf Ghani took over the reins of government two years back. The embattled […]

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Pakistan: Painting Itself into a Corner

  Canberra, 11 July 2016 Pakistan is a land of contrasts. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots in all aspects of normal life stands out as a prime example. However, the most starkly visible contrast is the two very different conceptual understanding within the nation of the role of religion in the State. […]

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AFGHANISTAN: FRAGILE AND FORGOTTEN

Canberra, 8 September 2015 Deliberate and repeated insurgent attacks, endemic corruption within the governing polity, a shrinking ‘formal’ economy, the end of a development boom as a more than decade long international war draws to a close that in turn has created unemployment levels of 35 to 40 per cent and a deteriorating security situation […]

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PAKISTAN: STUCK IN A CUL-DE-SAC

Canberra, 22 June 2014 Pakistan, a state created in the name of Islam, is today divided along linguistic, ethnic, tribal and sectarian lines. It also claims to be the ‘heart of Asia’, making any observer want to ask, ‘a wounded, bleeding heart?’ While it is beset with domestic issues that directly threaten the well-being of […]

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THE KING IS DEAD-LONG LIVE THE KING – SAUDI ARABIA: A LEGACY OF FOREIGN POLICY BLUNDERS

Canberra, 11 February 2015 Much is being written about the ‘peaceful’ transition of power and the rapid administrative overhaul that has been undertaken by King Salman in the fortnight or so that he has been in power in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi newspapers are trumpeting the changes as heralding a new era within the kingdom. […]

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SAUDI ARABIA: ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA

Phuket, Thailand, 29 December 2014 The entire Arab world is situated within the region now called the Middle-East. However, the Middle-east is not exclusively Arab; there are numerous non-Arab minorities resident in the region and there are three major non-Arab nations that straddle it—Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Even so Saudi Arabia, the richest nation in […]

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PAKISTAN’S TALIBAN NIGHTMARE

Canberra, 20 April 2013 Pakistan has been in the grip of a domestic Taliban insurgency for a number of years. The insurgency has managed to repeatedly disrupt the normal functioning of the society and, more importantly, made the limited secular influence within the polity withdraw and become insignificant. In the past few months it has […]

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AFGHANISTAN—WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Canberra, 7 September 2012 Why do people resort to violence to ensure that the ruling entity—whether a monarchy, dictatorship, autocracy or some form of democracy—meets their demands? In most cases the cause of such violence lies squarely with the Government—in its ability or ineptitude to redress the grievances, genuine or otherwise, perceived or actual, that […]

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The Unravelling of Pakistan

Singapore On 28 April 2009, the Pakistani army launched a military campaign in the Buner district, approximately 120 km north-west from the capital Islamabad, in an effort to regain control of the area from the Taliban. At the face of it this does not seem to be anything particularly important in a nation that has […]

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How Did Afghanistan Become Such a Mess

Canberra, Australia How Did Afghanistan Become Such a Mess? The events of the 1800s seem almost completely steeped in history when one looks back at them from the vantage point of 2009 and the chaotic and eventful decade preceding it. In the case of Afghanistan, there is a sense of déjà vu when the past […]

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