Central Asia

The Afghan Peace Building Process: Problems and Prospects

Muhammad Azam — 2024-12-26

At the beginning of the U.S.-Afghan war in 2001, none of the parties involved was willing to talk to each other. Over time, however, the need for peace negotiations became apparent, and a peace process slowly gained momentum in 2004. Although the Taliban militarily captured Kabul in 2021, one of the outcomes of the peace process was the Doha Peace Agreement signed by the United States and the Afghan Taliban, in which the latter guaranteed that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used against the United States. In addition, the peace process reached several milestones over the years. This article aims to analyze the achievements of the peace process in light of the web approach proposed by Lederach.

Viability of Pak-Russia Military Cooperation

Adam Saud — 2024-12-26

In international arena, there are no permanent friends or foes. This is clearly demonstrated by undulating nature of Pak-Russia relations, which kept on swaying with varying interests of two countries throughout the past century. It was only after 9/11, when Pakistan abandoned Afghan Taliban and became ally of US on war on terror, interests of Pakistan and Russia got converged. As a result of shared threats of terrorism and turning of their old allies to their rivals, the two countries were compelled to improve relations in various sectors particularly, military. The persistent joint exercises and frequent exchange of defense delegations during the past decade is indicator of growing military cooperation of two countries. This paper aims to analyzing the Pak-Russia military relations from the perspective of Regional Security Complex Theory while keeping in view the inherent turbulence in international politics.

The Politics of Allowances in Waziristan During the British Raj

Saeeda — 2024-12-26

The paper describes the nineteenth and early twentieth century British Indian Government dealings with the Wazir tribe dwelling on the North-West Frontier of the subcontinent. In view of the steady advances of Russians in Central Asia, the British Indian Government thought it necessary to control the Wazir tribe because it was essential to the security of India in the North-West Frontier. Therefore, the British evolved such an administrative system by virtue of which they could exercise influence over them. One of the main elements of arrangement was the payment of allowances and subsidies to the Wazir tribe. The paper argues that the payment of allowances to Wazir tribe created a considerable strategic space and time for the then British Empire to pursue its colonial interests and initiate the Great Game, in a recurrent competition with the 19^th century expanding Czarist Empire. The paper follows a historical approach relying mainly on archival sources and an inductive interpretation of these archival sources involves, methodologically, an empiric-analytic reasoning that adds to research on the subject.

The 2019 Provincial Elections in Newly Merged Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: An Epoch-Making Commencement

Altaf Ullah — 2024-12-26

The integration of tribal areas (FATA) of Pakistan with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a significant development which has ultimately eradicated the twists and turns of the past and diverted the course of action from an unidentified destination to a specified one. The natives, their society, socio-cultural, economic, administrative and above all their political concerns has got a new direction in the aftermath of the said merger. The newly merged districts have recently been passed through a new experience of popular voting on 20^th July 2019. Being a central component of democracy, elections provide opportunities of equal standing, progress, prosperity, political awareness, and socio-economic equality to the people. As an integral part of the process of democratization, electoral processes and political contestation provide a wide variety of choice to the citizens of a nation-state to choose their respective leading figures standing in the que of contestation. The present study, however, explores the significant aspects of this political dispensation on the one hand and addresses certain important questions on the other. It pinpoints the role of the major political parties, their programmes, political manifestoes and electoral campaign. The active participation of the tribal masses, the role of independent candidates and women across these districts, are the major areas of concern at the moment. It carefully deals with all these important characteristics of the provincial assembly elections recently held in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the light of empirical evidences portrayed in the primary and secondary source materials.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor's Impact on Pak-China Bilateral Relations

Laiba Ali Khan — 2024-12-26

Within the larger framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), this study examines the complex effects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The study looks at how China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a flagship project promotes economic, political, cultural, educational, and security cooperation while strengthening the historical links between Pakistan and China. The study examines how Pakistan's economic growth, infrastructure development, and regional integration are facilitated by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), utilizing Rostow's theory of economic development as a framework. It is projected that the effective execution of CPEC will revolutionize global connections, possibly enhancing Pakistan's economy as a whole and encouraging closer ties with China.