Honor killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and political violence are just some of the words used to describe the police in Pakistan. These murders were not executed by some enraged mob but by the police—those responsible with enforcing the law and protecting the citizens of their country. The case is part of a broader pattern […]
Tag: #conflict
Rise in Terrorist Attacks Sparks Tensions on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border
A recent bombing of a Peshawar mosque by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has prompted fears that Pakistan’s terrorism problem is growing. The attack killed over 100 people, many of them police officers. The TTP initially claimed responsibility, although TTP leadership later denied involvement and blamed a breakaway faction. January […]
The Sino-Indian Conflict: Are Boundaries Made To Be Invaded?
When two of the fastest growing nations in the world draw a Line of Actual Control (LAC), its demarcation is treated more as a boundary that is intended to be violated rather than adhered to. Each country tests its limits by building infrastructure, deploying a greater amount of military personnel, and starting spontaneous skirmishes with […]
Conflict Rages between Armenia and Azerbaijan
On September 27, 2020, a decades-old conflict began between Armenia and Azerbaijan over a territory called Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as an Azerbaijan territory, but the regional government is run by ethnic Armenians who want to secede and join Armenia. During Soviet control of the region, the ethnic nationalism displayed by both Armenia and […]
Embracing Nationalism in East Africa
On September 16th outside of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, leaders of the once exiled Oromo Liberation Front gathered. Scores of supporters came to show their support, and they had not forgotten one thing: the other ethnic tribes in the region were the ones that had displaced them. Some of the supporters began attacking non-Oromo people, […]
Basra in Flames, with No Water to Put out the Fire
Basra is a city located in the southeast of Iraq, bordering the countries of Kuwait and Iran. Basra is known as the oil capital of Iraq, yet despite the abundance of wealth, the whole country, and especially Basra, has been suffering from a stagnant economy. Government corruption, financial mishandling, and high unemployment took the Basrawis […]
When Universalism Met Culture
As I read the story of Aasia Bibi, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who unintentionally poisoned and killed 17 members of her family in her attempt to escape the prospect of an arranged marriage, I wonder how many South Asian women have contemplated the same. As a South Indian woman myself, talk of my marriage is […]
Front Lines: The Weak Defence for ‘Human Shields’
Picture this: a young man, branded with a nondescript sign on his chest, being paraded through villages and neighbourhoods as he only just manages to stay on the jeep that he has been so carelessly tied to. The use of civilians as ‘human shields’ in times of conflict and war is not novel or particular […]
Soldiers of Fortune: the Rise of Private Military Companies and their Consequences on America’s Wars
By Alexander Casendino War and conflict are synonymous with human history, and where there is conflict, there are often mercenaries who reap the profits. These “armies for hire” appeared as early as Ancient Egypt and Rome, with rulers deploying paid auxiliary forces to supplement imperial armies. In present-day America, mercenaries have consolidated into one of […]
Darfur: Will the West Ever Care?
When on October 30th, 2014, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s vicious government forces mercilessly raped 221 women and girls over 36 hours, the residents of Tabit stood helpless. The small town of Tabit in Northern Darfur, Sudan, had been subjected to another atrocity. It was not long ago that images of George Clooney’s ‘Save Darfur’ campaign […]