Dr Zia Ul Haque Shamsi

Cyberwarfare in its present form may be a new phenomenon, but the concept is as old as warfare itself. In the olden days also, rivals made efforts to physically disrupt the communication systems of their adversary. Likewise, well-thought-out strategies were adopted to access information systems and create mechanisms of misinformation in enemy ranks; utilising all […]

At a time when a full-scale war in Ukraine entered the 14th day, with Russian troops on the outskirts of Capital Kyiv, India accidentally fires a missile into Pakistan’s territory on the night of 9th March 2022. Interestingly, India did not issue any statement about the incident until Pakistan formally launched a complaint and carried […]

While Pakistan has been engaged in an intense debate about “geostrategy” and “geo-economics,” geopolitics has taken over global affairs by storm. Geopolitical considerations, based on supreme national interests as dictated by classical realism with power and security as its cardinals, have started to virtualise the “New World Order 2.0.” Since the hasty withdrawal of the […]

Let me first explain the acronym, MESACA. It stands for “Middle East-South Asia-Central Asia.” Expanding regional connectivity between MESACA can prove to be a game-changer, particularly for the relatively poor performing states. It is important to mention that Iran and few West Asian countries have been included as a part of MESACA due to their […]

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan stands tall at 75 after its independence from British India on 14 August 1947 facing a tougher battle ahead. Pakistan is now the fifth largest country with 220 million people of which nearly 65% are below the age of 35. In view of its immense strategic relevance in the region, […]

While there is a lot of emphasis on human security in the recently released National Security Policy of Pakistan, and rightly so, I do not see enough attention to human safety, unless it is assumed that the two terminologies or concepts have been used synonymously. In a developing country like Pakistan, where human security in […]

The month-long debate between self-centred politicians and the pseudo-intellectuals on the shifting paradigms of Pakistan’s policies from geo-strategy to geo-economics has done little for the people of Pakistan. Rather, it has further confused them as far as the focus of Pakistan’s economic direction is concerned, because it directly affects each citizen’s well-being. To begin with, […]

Since the end of the Cold War, most wars have taken place either in the Middle East or the adjacent South Asian region. Unfortunately, all of these wars and conflicts were between Unequal Military Powers (UMPs), and therefore the result was obvious. The infrastructure and the social fabric of Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan […]

Human security figured out prominently in the recently approved draft of Pakistan’s first-ever National Security Policy (NSP), and it is a welcome step by the government. However, it is extremely important that we understand all aspects of human security and not only those which were presented by Dr Mahbubul Haq’s UNDP Report of 1994. Dr […]

The newer Blocs are taking shape based on geostrategy, geo-economics, and geopolitics. While geo-economics cannot be seen as void of geopolitics, India seems to be taking more interest in the geostrategic domain to tackle its regional conflicts with extra-regional support. India’s participation in QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) is perhaps in the same vein. However, India […]