I work as Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. My research interests border on ethnicity and nationalism, conflict resolution, theories of International Relations and regional security dynamics in South Asia and the Middle East. Address: School of Politics and International Relations Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
How do sociopolitical developments in the 1980s endure in contemporary Pakistan? The article answ... more How do sociopolitical developments in the 1980s endure in contemporary Pakistan? The article answers this question across three dimensions: first, the religious, as witnessed in General Zia-ul-Haq’s weaponization of blasphemy laws that shaped the rise of a majoritarian political actor in the shape of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in 2017. Second, the social, with Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamization laws denigrating the agency of women leading to their resolute mobilization in the 1980s and again in 2018 in the shape of the Aurat March and Aurat Azadi March movements. Finally, the political, where the military takeover in 1977 invited a counter-movement in the form of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in 1981. In 2020, opposition parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a counterweight to the incumbent civil-military hybrid regime. The article concludes that Pakistan’s failure to improve on the religious, societal and political indicators lies at the core of its dishevelled polity.
India-Pakistan relations are at an inflection point with India's dramatic revocation of Kashmir's... more India-Pakistan relations are at an inflection point with India's dramatic revocation of Kashmir's autonomy and its desired objective to transform the nature of the Kashmir conflict from a "bilateral" (involving Pakistan) to a "unilateral" status (excluding Pakistan). Pakistan, on the other hand, has embarked on a diplomatic offensive making the case against India's majoritarian politics in Kashmir as detrimental not only to the Kashmiris but also to the strategic stability between the two rivals. This article reasons that India's and Pakistan's dominant zero-sum strategiespremised on winning while ensuring the other's loss-are least likely to come to fruition. Given the present nature of ties, the way forward is for the two states to engage in a minimalist framework where mutual interests, as opposed to dominant positions, are put forth as a basis for engagement. Second, engagement more than agreement should be the short-to mediumterm goal. Finally, any talk during this time on freezing the Kashmir conflict is least likely to bring any long-term dividends for peace and stability between the two regional adversaries.
The paper makes the case for civilian resilience and resistance and moves beyond static-fixed ana... more The paper makes the case for civilian resilience and resistance and moves beyond static-fixed analysis of civil-military relations in Pakistan bordering on military hegemony. Arguing in favour of dynamic and processual civil-military relations, the article analyses strategies of civilian resilience, the fear of the consolidation of political processes on the part of the military and how space for the military's direct interventionism is shrinking in Pakistan.
The demand for new provinces in Pakistan gained traction after the passage of the 18th Amendment ... more The demand for new provinces in Pakistan gained traction after the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistani constitution in 2010. All major political parties since then have included in their elections manifestos the need to create new provinces in Pakistan. While the debate on new provinces is manifest on the part of political parties and ethnopolitical actors, there is no large scale research that studies the phenomenon at the mass level. The present article fills the gap by undertaking a survey of respondents from the Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The survey data highlights that ethnic majorities in these three provinces are opposed to the creation of a new province, whereas, ethnic minorities here are more desirous of new provinces.
The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 2022
This article critically explores the evolution and expression of a Pakistani national identity as... more This article critically explores the evolution and expression of a Pakistani national identity as a project of assertion in the post-colonial period. While the initial years of Pakistan’s independence were marked by ambiguity over the religious versus secular direction of the Pakistani identity, there was no dithering over an absolutist national identity (Pakistani) that was to be strictly followed and ordained in contrast to sub-national, ethnic identities. The article presents three elemental positions of Pakistan’s national identity discourse: the nationalist/primordialist, the perennialist and the social constructivist. Rooting its argument in the social constructivist episteme but also moving beyond it by indulging in a normative approach, the article argues in favour of a humanist-centred interpretation that eschews differentiation and normalises an inclusive, tolerant and diversity-acceptant definition of Pakistani identity.
In this edited volume 'Living under Hybrid War', I write on 'Ethnic Faultlines as Gray Zones of H... more In this edited volume 'Living under Hybrid War', I write on 'Ethnic Faultlines as Gray Zones of Hybrid Warfare' arguing that the hybrid warfare theory reduces the causes of ethnic conflicts in a country, as exclusively a work of external enemies and their internal proxies. The essential task for the state elite is to make a distinction between softer (ignoring the external sources of threat) and rigid (concentrating exclusively on external sources of threat) understandings and the need to create a balance between the two.
Pakistan finds itself at the horns of a strategic dilemma as the US-China rivalry intensifies in ... more Pakistan finds itself at the horns of a strategic dilemma as the US-China rivalry intensifies in international politics. At the heart of the dilemma is the spectre of choosing between the United States (US) and China which has the intended effect of raising costs for Pakistan’s foreign policy. Recent commentaries on Pakistan’s foreign policy advocate the need for Pakistan to strike a balance between China and the US. In contradistinction to such commentaries, the present article makes a more nuanced case for the ‘hedging’ strategy. Hedging involves policies that advocate a mixture of return-maximization and risk-contingency planning that circumvents the dominance of major powers. The article argues that Pakistan’s hedging strategy necessitates the avoidance of binaries in international politics, prioritisation of economic gains and domestic political stability. Pakistan’s hedging option is contextualized with respect to the US Indo-Pacific strategy as outlined in the Department of Defense 2019 report.
Routledge Handbook of Race and Ethnicity in Asia, 2021
The reasons fomenting the separation of East Pakistan were ingrained in a domestic politics of
ce... more The reasons fomenting the separation of East Pakistan were ingrained in a domestic politics of centralised authoritarianism that denied provincial autonomy and power to the Bengalis as well as non-dominant ethnic groups in West Pakistan including the Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis. Pakistan’s practice of a policy of centralisation and by extension denial of power to the provinces continued in the post-1971 period, fuelling ethnic conflict in Balochistan in the 1970s as well as in both rural and urban Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. An important break in policy was witnessed in 2010 with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistan Constitution, which instituted federal-democratic policies and practices through increased provincial autonomy. As Pakistan transitions from a dictatorial-centralised to democratic-federal polity, ethnic movements and ethnic conflicts remain a persistent feature of its socio-political landscape
The present article critically evaluates Hroch's theory in light of the Sindhi and Baloch nat... more The present article critically evaluates Hroch's theory in light of the Sindhi and Baloch national movements in Pakistan. At the heart of the issue are the social preconditions and the stage theory which Hroch posits to comprehend both the formation of nations and origins of the national movement. As far as social preconditions are concerned, the article contests the overarching notion in Hroch's theory that only when a complete class structure develops that the nation comes into being and the national movement itself is successful. With respect to the stage theory, the article brings into contention the variable of “intra-ethnic conflict” or the conflicts which inheres within nations. This makes the linear progression from Stage A to B to C, as Hroch identifies, difficult to achieve because within a single nation multiple national movements exist. In such a scenario, one can depict a stage theory for each national movement within a single nation. Finally, I argue, that in o...
The nature of the Pakistani state is undergoing a key transformation as evidenced in move towards... more The nature of the Pakistani state is undergoing a key transformation as evidenced in move towards a more decentralised and power-sharing polity after the passage of the 18th Amendment. Paradoxically, the 18th Amendment's objective to federalize an otherwise historically centralized Pakistani state has led to the intensification of ethnic discord at the provincial level. While the 18th Amendment seeks to address the perennial discord between the dominant and non-dominant ethnic groups in Pakistan, the same Amendment has also engendered a fierce competition between dominant and non-dominant ethnic groups within the provinces. The present article concentrates on the Punjab, Sindh and KP provinces where two dynamics signalling intra-provincial ethnic conflict are manifest-first, conflict over the division of power and authority between provincial and local governments and second, the demand for new provinces on the part of non-dominant ethnic groups.
The political culture literature is afflicted with an orientational and attitudinal bias in which... more The political culture literature is afflicted with an orientational and attitudinal bias in which cultural dynamics reign supreme, while political values and beliefs are relegated as an epiphenomenon. The present article arrogates the ‘political’ as the superior analytical variable in estimating political culture in Pakistan. While political culture studies attend to the behavioural methodology focused on individual cultural attitudes and orientations towards the political system, analysis of Pakistan’s political culture is attempted at the meso-level, that is, political parties and is in this sense a top–bottom approach. A seminal focus on political parties attends to a major gap in the political culture literature: the non-attention to agency. That is, while the literature thrives on cultural attitudes and orientations that feed into the political system, it is largely silent on the much thornier question of how such attitudes and orientations are engendered in the public sphere in the first place. In this sense, the article attributes agency to political parties as shaping and influencing political culture, that is, how do people view and think about politics in the country. Finally, in conformity with the political culture literature, the fact that political culture is never uniform and homogenous rather stratified into various competing political sub-cultures is brought out with respect to three mainstream political parties in Pakistan as manifested in their 2018 election manifestoes. Because political parties are ideational agents that shape beliefs and values in the public sphere, it makes sense to deep dive into competitive political sub-cultures placing ‘politics’ at the core of political culture analysis.
A „cult of the offensive‟ (Van Evera 1984) seems to be in the offing in contemporary internationa... more A „cult of the offensive‟ (Van Evera 1984) seems to be in the offing in contemporary international politics. States and societies are moving towards more aggressive foreign policies as evidenced in the actions of major powers, including Russia and the United States as well as regional powers such as North Korea. A similar cult seems to be pervading through the South Asian region where both the actions and language of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan are aggressive involving accusations and counter-accusations. In all, foreign relations between Pakistan, on the one hand and India and Afghanistan, on the other, are intensifying. Between Pakistan and India, strategic dynamics and aggrandisement of military offenses are at play as domestic troubles in Kashmir intensify, while cross-border terrorism manifests itself most acutely between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Amid seemingly intensifying geopolitics, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) presents a radical break and opportunity to steer South Asia in the direction of cooperation through economic interlinkages. While geopolitics and its reading centres on borders, territories and frontiers and their presumed defence from foreign enemies and invasions, the logic of geoeconomics is deterritorialised where borders and frontiers are largely meaningless. The paper seeks to address geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in South Asia as they present themselves today. What are the major challenges in both domains? And most importantly, can South Asia afford to continue on the path of confrontation and hostility?
The article attends to the dynamic of subjective interpretation of socioeconomic conditions by et... more The article attends to the dynamic of subjective interpretation of socioeconomic conditions by ethnic elites in ways that convince co-ethnics of their relative deprivation and discrimination. The article asserts that it is essential to move beyond structuralist explanations relative to economic deprivation and discrimination for they stand to essentialise social and economic conditions as defined by ethnic entrepreneurs themselves. In studying the crystallisation of Mohajir ethnicity in the 1970s and 1980s, the article seeks to (re) present alternative interpretations relative to political, economic and social facts of discrimination as subjectively presented by the Mohajir ethnic elite. The article locates peripherality not in the political system that disadvantaged the Mohajirs but in the discourse of discrimination propagated by the new Mohajir ethnopolitical elite. It is in this sense that discrimination becomes what ethnic groups make of it.
The article seeks to investigate how alliance formation and balance of power patterns will unfold... more The article seeks to investigate how alliance formation and balance of power patterns will unfold in South Asia in the wake of an intensifying geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. Both the United States (US) and China form an intrinsic part of South Asia's geopolitical security architecture through their embeddedness with both Pakistan and India. Historically, Pakistan relied on both American and Chinese security assistance in balancing against India while India relied more on the former Soviet Union and the US in its balancing game against Pakistan. As current geopolitical dynamics unfold with the US pivot to Asia, the rivalry and competition between the US and China is intensifying, bringing with it a similar dynamic in South Asia as Pakistan moves closer to China and India consolidates its alliance with the US. The paper concludes that, keeping current global security dynamics into perspective, the relational dynamics between Pakistan and India stands to unfold in a competitive and adversarial balance of power scenario.
How do sociopolitical developments in the 1980s endure in contemporary Pakistan? The article answ... more How do sociopolitical developments in the 1980s endure in contemporary Pakistan? The article answers this question across three dimensions: first, the religious, as witnessed in General Zia-ul-Haq’s weaponization of blasphemy laws that shaped the rise of a majoritarian political actor in the shape of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in 2017. Second, the social, with Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamization laws denigrating the agency of women leading to their resolute mobilization in the 1980s and again in 2018 in the shape of the Aurat March and Aurat Azadi March movements. Finally, the political, where the military takeover in 1977 invited a counter-movement in the form of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in 1981. In 2020, opposition parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a counterweight to the incumbent civil-military hybrid regime. The article concludes that Pakistan’s failure to improve on the religious, societal and political indicators lies at the core of its dishevelled polity.
India-Pakistan relations are at an inflection point with India's dramatic revocation of Kashmir's... more India-Pakistan relations are at an inflection point with India's dramatic revocation of Kashmir's autonomy and its desired objective to transform the nature of the Kashmir conflict from a "bilateral" (involving Pakistan) to a "unilateral" status (excluding Pakistan). Pakistan, on the other hand, has embarked on a diplomatic offensive making the case against India's majoritarian politics in Kashmir as detrimental not only to the Kashmiris but also to the strategic stability between the two rivals. This article reasons that India's and Pakistan's dominant zero-sum strategiespremised on winning while ensuring the other's loss-are least likely to come to fruition. Given the present nature of ties, the way forward is for the two states to engage in a minimalist framework where mutual interests, as opposed to dominant positions, are put forth as a basis for engagement. Second, engagement more than agreement should be the short-to mediumterm goal. Finally, any talk during this time on freezing the Kashmir conflict is least likely to bring any long-term dividends for peace and stability between the two regional adversaries.
The paper makes the case for civilian resilience and resistance and moves beyond static-fixed ana... more The paper makes the case for civilian resilience and resistance and moves beyond static-fixed analysis of civil-military relations in Pakistan bordering on military hegemony. Arguing in favour of dynamic and processual civil-military relations, the article analyses strategies of civilian resilience, the fear of the consolidation of political processes on the part of the military and how space for the military's direct interventionism is shrinking in Pakistan.
The demand for new provinces in Pakistan gained traction after the passage of the 18th Amendment ... more The demand for new provinces in Pakistan gained traction after the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistani constitution in 2010. All major political parties since then have included in their elections manifestos the need to create new provinces in Pakistan. While the debate on new provinces is manifest on the part of political parties and ethnopolitical actors, there is no large scale research that studies the phenomenon at the mass level. The present article fills the gap by undertaking a survey of respondents from the Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The survey data highlights that ethnic majorities in these three provinces are opposed to the creation of a new province, whereas, ethnic minorities here are more desirous of new provinces.
The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 2022
This article critically explores the evolution and expression of a Pakistani national identity as... more This article critically explores the evolution and expression of a Pakistani national identity as a project of assertion in the post-colonial period. While the initial years of Pakistan’s independence were marked by ambiguity over the religious versus secular direction of the Pakistani identity, there was no dithering over an absolutist national identity (Pakistani) that was to be strictly followed and ordained in contrast to sub-national, ethnic identities. The article presents three elemental positions of Pakistan’s national identity discourse: the nationalist/primordialist, the perennialist and the social constructivist. Rooting its argument in the social constructivist episteme but also moving beyond it by indulging in a normative approach, the article argues in favour of a humanist-centred interpretation that eschews differentiation and normalises an inclusive, tolerant and diversity-acceptant definition of Pakistani identity.
In this edited volume 'Living under Hybrid War', I write on 'Ethnic Faultlines as Gray Zones of H... more In this edited volume 'Living under Hybrid War', I write on 'Ethnic Faultlines as Gray Zones of Hybrid Warfare' arguing that the hybrid warfare theory reduces the causes of ethnic conflicts in a country, as exclusively a work of external enemies and their internal proxies. The essential task for the state elite is to make a distinction between softer (ignoring the external sources of threat) and rigid (concentrating exclusively on external sources of threat) understandings and the need to create a balance between the two.
Pakistan finds itself at the horns of a strategic dilemma as the US-China rivalry intensifies in ... more Pakistan finds itself at the horns of a strategic dilemma as the US-China rivalry intensifies in international politics. At the heart of the dilemma is the spectre of choosing between the United States (US) and China which has the intended effect of raising costs for Pakistan’s foreign policy. Recent commentaries on Pakistan’s foreign policy advocate the need for Pakistan to strike a balance between China and the US. In contradistinction to such commentaries, the present article makes a more nuanced case for the ‘hedging’ strategy. Hedging involves policies that advocate a mixture of return-maximization and risk-contingency planning that circumvents the dominance of major powers. The article argues that Pakistan’s hedging strategy necessitates the avoidance of binaries in international politics, prioritisation of economic gains and domestic political stability. Pakistan’s hedging option is contextualized with respect to the US Indo-Pacific strategy as outlined in the Department of Defense 2019 report.
Routledge Handbook of Race and Ethnicity in Asia, 2021
The reasons fomenting the separation of East Pakistan were ingrained in a domestic politics of
ce... more The reasons fomenting the separation of East Pakistan were ingrained in a domestic politics of centralised authoritarianism that denied provincial autonomy and power to the Bengalis as well as non-dominant ethnic groups in West Pakistan including the Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis. Pakistan’s practice of a policy of centralisation and by extension denial of power to the provinces continued in the post-1971 period, fuelling ethnic conflict in Balochistan in the 1970s as well as in both rural and urban Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. An important break in policy was witnessed in 2010 with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistan Constitution, which instituted federal-democratic policies and practices through increased provincial autonomy. As Pakistan transitions from a dictatorial-centralised to democratic-federal polity, ethnic movements and ethnic conflicts remain a persistent feature of its socio-political landscape
The present article critically evaluates Hroch's theory in light of the Sindhi and Baloch nat... more The present article critically evaluates Hroch's theory in light of the Sindhi and Baloch national movements in Pakistan. At the heart of the issue are the social preconditions and the stage theory which Hroch posits to comprehend both the formation of nations and origins of the national movement. As far as social preconditions are concerned, the article contests the overarching notion in Hroch's theory that only when a complete class structure develops that the nation comes into being and the national movement itself is successful. With respect to the stage theory, the article brings into contention the variable of “intra-ethnic conflict” or the conflicts which inheres within nations. This makes the linear progression from Stage A to B to C, as Hroch identifies, difficult to achieve because within a single nation multiple national movements exist. In such a scenario, one can depict a stage theory for each national movement within a single nation. Finally, I argue, that in o...
The nature of the Pakistani state is undergoing a key transformation as evidenced in move towards... more The nature of the Pakistani state is undergoing a key transformation as evidenced in move towards a more decentralised and power-sharing polity after the passage of the 18th Amendment. Paradoxically, the 18th Amendment's objective to federalize an otherwise historically centralized Pakistani state has led to the intensification of ethnic discord at the provincial level. While the 18th Amendment seeks to address the perennial discord between the dominant and non-dominant ethnic groups in Pakistan, the same Amendment has also engendered a fierce competition between dominant and non-dominant ethnic groups within the provinces. The present article concentrates on the Punjab, Sindh and KP provinces where two dynamics signalling intra-provincial ethnic conflict are manifest-first, conflict over the division of power and authority between provincial and local governments and second, the demand for new provinces on the part of non-dominant ethnic groups.
The political culture literature is afflicted with an orientational and attitudinal bias in which... more The political culture literature is afflicted with an orientational and attitudinal bias in which cultural dynamics reign supreme, while political values and beliefs are relegated as an epiphenomenon. The present article arrogates the ‘political’ as the superior analytical variable in estimating political culture in Pakistan. While political culture studies attend to the behavioural methodology focused on individual cultural attitudes and orientations towards the political system, analysis of Pakistan’s political culture is attempted at the meso-level, that is, political parties and is in this sense a top–bottom approach. A seminal focus on political parties attends to a major gap in the political culture literature: the non-attention to agency. That is, while the literature thrives on cultural attitudes and orientations that feed into the political system, it is largely silent on the much thornier question of how such attitudes and orientations are engendered in the public sphere in the first place. In this sense, the article attributes agency to political parties as shaping and influencing political culture, that is, how do people view and think about politics in the country. Finally, in conformity with the political culture literature, the fact that political culture is never uniform and homogenous rather stratified into various competing political sub-cultures is brought out with respect to three mainstream political parties in Pakistan as manifested in their 2018 election manifestoes. Because political parties are ideational agents that shape beliefs and values in the public sphere, it makes sense to deep dive into competitive political sub-cultures placing ‘politics’ at the core of political culture analysis.
A „cult of the offensive‟ (Van Evera 1984) seems to be in the offing in contemporary internationa... more A „cult of the offensive‟ (Van Evera 1984) seems to be in the offing in contemporary international politics. States and societies are moving towards more aggressive foreign policies as evidenced in the actions of major powers, including Russia and the United States as well as regional powers such as North Korea. A similar cult seems to be pervading through the South Asian region where both the actions and language of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan are aggressive involving accusations and counter-accusations. In all, foreign relations between Pakistan, on the one hand and India and Afghanistan, on the other, are intensifying. Between Pakistan and India, strategic dynamics and aggrandisement of military offenses are at play as domestic troubles in Kashmir intensify, while cross-border terrorism manifests itself most acutely between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Amid seemingly intensifying geopolitics, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) presents a radical break and opportunity to steer South Asia in the direction of cooperation through economic interlinkages. While geopolitics and its reading centres on borders, territories and frontiers and their presumed defence from foreign enemies and invasions, the logic of geoeconomics is deterritorialised where borders and frontiers are largely meaningless. The paper seeks to address geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in South Asia as they present themselves today. What are the major challenges in both domains? And most importantly, can South Asia afford to continue on the path of confrontation and hostility?
The article attends to the dynamic of subjective interpretation of socioeconomic conditions by et... more The article attends to the dynamic of subjective interpretation of socioeconomic conditions by ethnic elites in ways that convince co-ethnics of their relative deprivation and discrimination. The article asserts that it is essential to move beyond structuralist explanations relative to economic deprivation and discrimination for they stand to essentialise social and economic conditions as defined by ethnic entrepreneurs themselves. In studying the crystallisation of Mohajir ethnicity in the 1970s and 1980s, the article seeks to (re) present alternative interpretations relative to political, economic and social facts of discrimination as subjectively presented by the Mohajir ethnic elite. The article locates peripherality not in the political system that disadvantaged the Mohajirs but in the discourse of discrimination propagated by the new Mohajir ethnopolitical elite. It is in this sense that discrimination becomes what ethnic groups make of it.
The article seeks to investigate how alliance formation and balance of power patterns will unfold... more The article seeks to investigate how alliance formation and balance of power patterns will unfold in South Asia in the wake of an intensifying geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. Both the United States (US) and China form an intrinsic part of South Asia's geopolitical security architecture through their embeddedness with both Pakistan and India. Historically, Pakistan relied on both American and Chinese security assistance in balancing against India while India relied more on the former Soviet Union and the US in its balancing game against Pakistan. As current geopolitical dynamics unfold with the US pivot to Asia, the rivalry and competition between the US and China is intensifying, bringing with it a similar dynamic in South Asia as Pakistan moves closer to China and India consolidates its alliance with the US. The paper concludes that, keeping current global security dynamics into perspective, the relational dynamics between Pakistan and India stands to unfold in a competitive and adversarial balance of power scenario.
A shift in personal capacity from working in academia for a considerable time period to a think t... more A shift in personal capacity from working in academia for a considerable time period to a think tank allows for much thought and critical reflection on the requisites that drive the two professional categories. While it is generally assumed that academics are holed up in their ivory towers of thought and analysis divorced from reality, policy researchers in think tanks indulge in real-world issues and contribute directly to societal development and progress. Second, cut off from reality, it is assumed that academics' engagement with theoretical issues does not feed into policy areas. This is where think tankers come in with their problem-solving approaches which go beyond the theoretical and suggest what are termed as "practical" solutions. Hence, while academics spend a lot of time in "understanding" and "explaining" an issue, the policy researchers are orientated towards providing definite "recommendations." Third, think tanks are known for their closeness to centres of power and authority while universities have limited access to the policy-making world and the policy makers themselves.
Based on these and other boundaries which separate the two professional realms, the paper will forge a "re-imagining" where the universities and think tanks are compared outlining their commonalities and contrastive features. The shortcomings of both universities and think tanks will be broached with a view to suggest strategies where cooperative bridges of mutual benefit can be advanced between the two.
Introducing International Relations explores the development of the IR ‘discipline’ through three... more Introducing International Relations explores the development of the IR ‘discipline’ through three major essentials: concepts, theories, and practices. Each chapter is structurally organised with respect to detailing concepts, moving thereon to theory, and animated with relevant empirical examples making the connect between theory and practice. Pakistan and the developing world provide the primary reference points for the discussion of practice which is one of the major strengths of the book. In addition, the book challenges students to think methodically, independently, and critically by way of relevant thinking exercises and a summation of key points at the end of individual chapters.
This book will not only serve as a useful text for undergraduate and graduate students in universities and colleges but also as a resource for faculty, researchers in think tanks, bureaucrats, candidates appearing in competitive civil service examinations, journalists in print and electronic media, and general readers interested in understanding the nuances that constitute, determine, and shape international relations.
In order to understand the Pakistani state and government’s treatment of non-dominant ethnic grou... more In order to understand the Pakistani state and government’s treatment of non-dominant ethnic groups after the failure of the military operation in East Pakistan and the independence of Bangladesh, this book looks at the ethnic movements that were subject to a military operation after 1971: the Baloch in the 1970s, the Sindhis in the 1980s and Mohajirs in the 1990s.
The book critically evaluates the literature on ethnicity and nationalism by taking nationalist ideology and the political divisions which it generates within ethnic groups as essential in estimating ethnic movements. It goes on to challenge the modernist argument that nationalism is only relevant to modern-industrialised socio-economic settings. The available evidence from Pakistan makes clear that ethnic movements emanate from three distinct socio-economic realms: tribal (Baloch), rural (Sindh) and urban (Mohajir), and the book looks at the implications that this has, as well as how further arguments could be advanced about the relevance of ethnic movements and politics in the Third World.
It provides academics and researchers with background knowledge of how the Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir ethnic conflict in Pakistan took shape in a historical context as well as probable future scenarios of the relationship between the Pakistani state and government, and ethnic groups and movements.
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dishevelled polity.
centralised authoritarianism that denied provincial autonomy and power to the Bengalis as well
as non-dominant ethnic groups in West Pakistan including the Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis. Pakistan’s practice of a policy of centralisation and by extension denial of power to the provinces
continued in the post-1971 period, fuelling ethnic conflict in Balochistan in the 1970s as well as
in both rural and urban Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. An important break in policy
was witnessed in 2010 with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistan Constitution, which instituted federal-democratic policies and practices through increased provincial autonomy. As Pakistan transitions from a dictatorial-centralised to democratic-federal polity, ethnic
movements and ethnic conflicts remain a persistent feature of its socio-political landscape
and counter-accusations. In all, foreign relations between Pakistan, on the one hand and India and Afghanistan, on the other, are intensifying.
Between Pakistan and India, strategic dynamics and aggrandisement of military offenses are at play as domestic troubles in Kashmir intensify,
while cross-border terrorism manifests itself most acutely between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Amid seemingly intensifying geopolitics, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) presents a
radical break and opportunity to steer South Asia in the direction of cooperation through economic interlinkages. While geopolitics and its reading centres on borders, territories and frontiers and their presumed defence from foreign enemies and invasions, the logic of geoeconomics is deterritorialised where borders and frontiers are largely meaningless. The paper seeks to address geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in South Asia as they present themselves today. What are the major challenges in both domains? And most importantly, can South Asia afford to continue on the path of confrontation and hostility?
stand to essentialise social and economic conditions as defined by ethnic entrepreneurs themselves. In studying the crystallisation of Mohajir ethnicity in the 1970s and 1980s, the article seeks to (re) present alternative interpretations relative to political, economic
and social facts of discrimination as subjectively presented by the Mohajir ethnic elite. The article locates peripherality not in the political system that disadvantaged the Mohajirs but in the discourse of discrimination propagated by the new Mohajir ethnopolitical elite. It is in this sense that discrimination becomes what ethnic groups make of it.
dishevelled polity.
centralised authoritarianism that denied provincial autonomy and power to the Bengalis as well
as non-dominant ethnic groups in West Pakistan including the Baloch, Pashtuns and Sindhis. Pakistan’s practice of a policy of centralisation and by extension denial of power to the provinces
continued in the post-1971 period, fuelling ethnic conflict in Balochistan in the 1970s as well as
in both rural and urban Sindh in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. An important break in policy
was witnessed in 2010 with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Pakistan Constitution, which instituted federal-democratic policies and practices through increased provincial autonomy. As Pakistan transitions from a dictatorial-centralised to democratic-federal polity, ethnic
movements and ethnic conflicts remain a persistent feature of its socio-political landscape
and counter-accusations. In all, foreign relations between Pakistan, on the one hand and India and Afghanistan, on the other, are intensifying.
Between Pakistan and India, strategic dynamics and aggrandisement of military offenses are at play as domestic troubles in Kashmir intensify,
while cross-border terrorism manifests itself most acutely between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Amid seemingly intensifying geopolitics, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) presents a
radical break and opportunity to steer South Asia in the direction of cooperation through economic interlinkages. While geopolitics and its reading centres on borders, territories and frontiers and their presumed defence from foreign enemies and invasions, the logic of geoeconomics is deterritorialised where borders and frontiers are largely meaningless. The paper seeks to address geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in South Asia as they present themselves today. What are the major challenges in both domains? And most importantly, can South Asia afford to continue on the path of confrontation and hostility?
stand to essentialise social and economic conditions as defined by ethnic entrepreneurs themselves. In studying the crystallisation of Mohajir ethnicity in the 1970s and 1980s, the article seeks to (re) present alternative interpretations relative to political, economic
and social facts of discrimination as subjectively presented by the Mohajir ethnic elite. The article locates peripherality not in the political system that disadvantaged the Mohajirs but in the discourse of discrimination propagated by the new Mohajir ethnopolitical elite. It is in this sense that discrimination becomes what ethnic groups make of it.
Based on these and other boundaries which separate the two professional realms, the paper will forge a "re-imagining" where the universities and think tanks are compared outlining their commonalities and contrastive features. The shortcomings of both universities and think tanks will be broached with a view to suggest strategies where cooperative bridges of mutual benefit can be advanced between the two.
This book will not only serve as a useful text for undergraduate and graduate students in universities and colleges but also as a resource for faculty, researchers in think tanks, bureaucrats, candidates appearing in competitive civil service examinations, journalists in print and electronic media, and general readers interested in understanding the nuances that constitute, determine, and shape international relations.
The book critically evaluates the literature on ethnicity and nationalism by taking nationalist ideology and the political divisions which it generates within ethnic groups as essential in estimating ethnic movements. It goes on to challenge the modernist argument that nationalism is only relevant to modern-industrialised socio-economic settings. The available evidence from Pakistan makes clear that ethnic movements emanate from three distinct socio-economic realms: tribal (Baloch), rural (Sindh) and urban (Mohajir), and the book looks at the implications that this has, as well as how further arguments could be advanced about the relevance of ethnic movements and politics in the Third World.
It provides academics and researchers with background knowledge of how the Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir ethnic conflict in Pakistan took shape in a historical context as well as probable future scenarios of the relationship between the Pakistani state and government, and ethnic groups and movements.