Afghan displacement prospects after a tricky trimester

Executive summary Forced displacement has been an unfortunate but near constant challenge facing millions of Afghans over the last four decades. Throughout this time, armed conflict has been the biggest driver causing countless Afghans to be internally displaced, or fleeing their country in search of safety. To this day, involuntary displacement keeps millions of Afghans … Read more

Afghanistan, Pakistan and the regional narcotics trade

Safiya Aftab is the Executive Director of Verso Consulting, a collective of practitioners with consulting experience in the development and corporate sectors. She has degrees in Economics and Public Administration and has been involved in socio-economic research, policy analysis, and analysis of governance and rights issues.

Policy Brief Policy Brief 1: Afghanistan: urgent need for displacement management strategy

Executive summary Forced displacement has been an unfortunate but near constant challenge facing millions of Afghans over the last four decades. Throughout this time, armed conflict has been the biggest driver causing countless Afghans to be internally displaced, or fleeing their country in search of safety. To this day, involuntary displacement keeps millions of Afghans … Read more

Politics of Exclusion: A case study of 2nd Constitutional Amendment

The 2nd Constitutional Amendment, passed in 1974, paved way for excluding Ahmadi community from the national mainstream. In the larger scheme of things, the second amendment reinforced the policy of state excluding some segments of the society from national mainstream. It transcended the ideological leanings of the parties in power – the left-leaning Bhutto was … Read more

Terrorism financing

Pakistan’s counter terrorism (CT) efforts often revolve around intelligence gathering, followed by policing, and, in many cases, undercover intelligence-led operations. These are no doubt integral CT components. But for counter-terror efforts to be effective in the longer term, the approach should be multipronged, also focusing on funding of terrorist activities. An important CT activity, therefore, … Read more

Financing of Diamer-Bhasha dam and the CPEC

Anam Fatima These days, the financing of Diamer-Bhasha Dam is in the news. Prime Minister Imran Khan has called upon the expatriate Pakistanis to generously support funds for the dam. The Supreme Court has already established a dedicated pool to generate money through donations. The move is quite noble. But clearly, it is being said, … Read more

Attack on Chinese engineers in Balochistan

On August 11, 2018, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Chinese engineers in Balochistan. It later emerged that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was behind the attack. The attack has raised questions about security to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) especially in Balochistan. Below are comments by some experts on the incident: BLA suicide attack … Read more

Iran-US nuclear deal: Tehran back on track

Iran is a Middle Eastern country, sharing borders with Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. The country has been striving hard to get nuclear technology. Many states viewed in the 1990s that Iran was on the verge of achieving a civil nuclear technology. Iran’s clandestine research in both fuel enrichment and conversion raised international … Read more

Pakistan in Saudi-led anti-terrorism alliance?: Background

On 15 December, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a military alliance against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh. To the surprise of Pakistan, it too was included in the alliance. Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Office later clarified that it is still looking into the details of the role … Read more