BPR writers Marcus Tan & Abdullah Khan discuss the Belt and Road, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and China’s growing capabilities and ambitions in the Indian ocean.
Tag: Pakistan
The Malacca Dilemma: A hindrance to Chinese Ambitions in the 21st Century
“This man may look intelligent but in fact is stupid.” As evident from the quote above, Deng Xiaoping had a rather low opinion of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the USSR. Xiaoping did not believe in imitating the western model of success. While Gorbachev had tried to reform the USSR through westernized political reform […]
Kashmir Amidst Neighbouring Political Gains
The following article was written for Berkeley Political Review as part of a collaboration with Davis Political Review. Legend says that on the great Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s deathbed, he was asked what his life’s most treasured experience had been? To this he replied; “Kashmir – everything else is worthless.” Given to his deep love for Kashmir, he […]
Transitions: Transgender Rights in Pakistan and Iran
In May 2018, the Pakistani parliament passed the Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act, enacting strong protections for transgender rights. Pakistani society, as well as South Asian society more broadly, contains individuals of a third gender called Khwaja Sirah, who are born with male anatomy but wear clothing generally thought of as female. To the west of […]
Captain of the Team, But Is He the Captain of the Country?
Imran Khan is a cricket-star-turned-politician who used a mixture of religious zeal and anti-corruption anger to catapult himself from the cricket ground to the office of the Prime Minister in August 2018. He ran a bruising campaign that damaged his relationships with other political parties in Pakistan. However, upon deeper reflection, there were forces other […]
Quit Kashmir: Ending the Brutal Occupation in South Asia
In 1947, the political landscape of South Asia transformed as the fight for independence triumphed. The demands of Indians everywhere who had taken to the streets and implored the British to “Quit India” were finally heard. British colonial rule of India came to a complete halt with the passage of the Indian Independence Act, commonly […]
The State of Pakistani Democracy
Democracies are built on the backs of ideals. As democracies get stronger, so do the institutions and ideals they are built upon. However, the international community has recently seen even the most resilient democracies fracture under the weight of anti-democratic forces. Take India and Turkey as examples, where strong-arm leaders have gained control, and have […]
Kashmir: One of the World’s Longest Ongoing Conflicts Re-Ignited in 2016
Since July, tensions between India and Pakistan have flared up over the disputed region of Kashmir. While tensions never fully go away, given that there have been three wars over the region, this bout has lasted longer and been more deadly than other recent incidents. The most recent clash saw 7 Pakistani soldiers killed, the […]
The Grim Reaper
In 2000, an unarmed, unmanned CIA surveillance aircraft overflew Tarnak Farm in Afghanistan, taking video of the sprawling agricultural complex and a tall man dressed in a white robe. The figure in the tape, which was leaked in 2004, was believed to be Osama bin Laden. Tarnak Farm was not attacked in part because it […]
The Viral Consequences: Pakistan’s Polio Crisis
With the world focusing on the Ebola outbreak ravaging through West Africa, it is easy to overlook an equally dangerous disease lurking behind global headlines: polio. Polio, a highly infectious disease that can cause irreversible paralysis in children, is entirely preventable if young children are frequently given vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of children in the […]