Pak-Saudi relations
OPPOSITION politicians recently enjoyed criticising the 19,000 bags of rice distributed in Punjab and KP by a Saudi aid agency as a meagre benefit from a key ally. What this politicking missed…
A domestic, not foreign, challenge
Is the situation in Afghanistan a foreign policy challenge or a domestic policy conundrum? At the heart of the conversation initiated by Ejaz Haider in ‘The Friday Times’ is really…
Redefining Pak-US relations
WITH the last of the American soldiers packing to leave Afghanistan, post-9/11 US-Pakistan relations have come full circle. Originally touted as a strategic alliance, it morphed into a transactional one…
Resetting Pakistan-US relations
Pakistan’s relationship with the Biden Administration has not gotten off to a very good start. Pakistanis that were appalled by the Supreme Court decision to uphold the acquittal of the…
Biden’s foreign policy agenda
In less than three weeks since the inauguration, President Biden has moved fast to articulate the broad contours of his administration’s foreign policy agenda. In choosing the US Department of…
The foreign policy challenge – Part II
Let us briefly look at Pakistan’s main external relationships. Pakistan is fortunate to have a strong relationship with China. It is the world’s greatest success story. It is the only…
The foreign policy challenge – Part I
Writing about Pakistan’s foreign policy is not easy. It is a function of Pakistan’s national policy which is determined by domestic realities and power structures that have, by and large,…
Post-Trump US foreign policy
NEVER have Americans seen an election in their recent history quite like the 2020 presidential contest. Never has the world watched with such concern the political tensions, bitter rhetoric and…
Foreign policy tragedy
Politics and governance are as poles apart as cricket and politics. Like cricket, which cannot be mastered without hard practice and vast experience, politics too needs hard struggle and practical…
Foreign policy and economic challenges
Foreign relations and the state of the economy have become inextricably linked in Pakistan due to the PML-N administration's overarching objective to borrow from external sources to meet its budgetary…
