111 510 510 libonline@riphah.edu.pk Contact

Afghan reconciliation process

IT was not entirely surprising that even while President Donald Trump spoke about Kashmir in his opening remarks, Prime Minister Imran Khan used the opportunity of meeting with President Trump…

A counterterrorism future again?

Thirteen years ago, in December 2007, the Pakistani military completed Operation Rah-e-Haq, ostensibly cleansing Swat of the threat of a terrorist takeover by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This would not…

The price of defeat

US Special Envoy for Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is once more treading the well worn path of a political settlement of the Afghan war that would allow a…

Hidden agenda and ‘deal’ with Taliban—II

George W. Bush appointed former aide to the American oil company UNOCAL, Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad, as special envoy to Afghanistan nine days after the US-backed interim government of Hamid Karzai…

Peace or surrender?

After innumerable delays and amidst uncertainty, the intra-Afghan talks process was kicked off in Doha on September 12, 2020. However, the difficulties surrounding the process have been highlighted by the…

Hidden agenda and ‘deal’ with Taliban

On September 11, 2001, nineteen years ago, humanity at large witnessed one of the most gruesome and heinous crimes in history. The wanton attack on twin towers of World Trade…

An Iran-Pakistan economic corridor?

There was this hope, however diffident, that Pakistan would take full advantage of India’s current willingness to re-establish relations with Islamabad and pend our age-old Kashmir policy until we had…

PM Khan’s 2021 risks and 2022 prospects

Exactly one year ago, I had identified five risks that Prime Minister Imran Khan faced in 2021. Risk 1: A weak and imbalanced economic recovery. Risk 2: System-wide division and…

The ‘peace’ mantra

Pakistan’s leaders, civilian and military, have been piping the ‘peace in Afghanistan’ tune for some time now, and certainly since the US signed an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw…

An unsettling survey

Casting an eye over the current national landscape proves an unsettling experience. Good news is hard to find, if not conspicuous by its absence. Nevertheless, for the sake of clarity…