111 510 510 libonline@riphah.edu.pk Contact
No Longer Status Quo

No longer status quo

So the Swiss letter affair is over, with barely a blip appearing on the national political radar. Never mind that the federal government was hostage to the issue for three…

Justice Or Revenge?

Justice or revenge?

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) set up in Bangladesh in 2010 by Prime Minister Hasina Wajid’s Awami League government, sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah, a senior Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader, to life…

The Coming Wars

The coming wars

"Changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals - from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable lands - are likely to become a major driver of war…

Seize Kashmir

Seize Kashmir

he recent developments in Kashmir and India offer Pakistan a fresh opportunity to redesign policy. We put Kashmir on the backburner for a decade, with very little return. The Indian…

A Self-defeating Advice

A self-defeating advice

Former premier Nawaz Sharif has asked the government to hold "serious, meaningful and result-oriented" talks with the Al-Qaeda-inspired local Taliban militants to bring peace in the country. A review of…

Afghanistan Beyond 2014

Afghanistan beyond 2014

The post-2014 situation in Afghanistan, after the withdrawal of the US/Nato/ International Security Assistance Force, has been the subject of a most vexing debate in recent times. The main difficulty…

Reconciliation Is The Key

Reconciliation is the key

Perhaps the best news to emerge concerning Afghanistan over the last few days is the five-day visit of the Afghan defence minister Gen Bismillah Khan Mohammadi to Pakistan at the…

Reko Diq: Technical Knockout?

Reko Diq: technical knockout?

The honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan has finally declared the award of Reko Diq copper project's lease to a foreign joint venture Tethyan as illegal. This almost seals the fate…

Ground Zero

Ground zero

A version of this essay was published exactly four years ago. The introduction has been updated and some details altered in the text. But the message remains the same: nuclear…

A BJP-driven U-turn?

A BJP-driven U-turn?

Looking at the U-turn in Indo-Pak relations, January seems a strange month. The change perplexed everyone, because throughout 2012, a perception was built that these belligerent neighbours had finally accepted…