UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
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Internal Challenges for Rising China Lessons for Pakistan
No full textProgress of China‘s economic development continues to be welcomed all around the world. However, the world‘s second largest economy is witnessing problems at home. The coming decade is going to keep China occupied with less of what happens around the world and more concerned with its three major issues of environmental problems, demographic challenges and political legitimacy. While China has been able to strongly address problems of air pollution and health through introduction of environmental institutes and courts, many enhancements in its Environmental Protection Law (EPL) can be made for improving the environment. As for its demographic challenges including an aging population, the country needs to work on a social security system through which the elderly can be enriched for serving in the country‘s social engagements. Lastly, if China‘s Communist Party (CCP) wants to overcome its problems of political legitimacy and internal stresses, the party would have to work towards guaranteeing judicial independence, deepen its economic reforms and be welcoming to the idea of inclusiveness, in which non-party members of the society have a say in the decision-making process
Sino-US Competition and Challenges for Global Political Order
No full textAs the world would call it, China is the 2nd superpower in the world and this fact is making headlines. With this shift of power, China is being seen as reshaping the world order. While China negated this fact in the beginning, four years later China presented itself as establishing ‗new power relations.‘ What are the ground realties? How does China want the world to see itself? How the United is States challenging an emerging China and where are we heading towards is the emphasis of this paper. The first part, China makes headlines, provides a brief insight into how China is making inroads as a major actor, pushing itself towards a reformist agenda while making sure that its selfinterest is not damaged. Mearsheimer‘s theory of neo-realism is studied in this regard. In the second part of the part, the strategic relationship of South Asian states, post 9/11 has been studied with respect to the theory of balance of power, with United States and India vs Pakistan and China Strategic Quadrangle. It is concluded that in comparison to United States and India, Pakistan and China‘s strategic partnership presents itself as a hallmark of ‗Grand Security Strategy.‘ In the third part of the paper, with reference to the strategy of Bandwagoning and Balancing, scholarly discussion by Robert Ross, David Shambaugh and David Kang is detailed. The authors discuss the insecurities of Southeast Asian states and the balance they are trying to maintain between United States and China. They argue that ‗balance of influence‘ is being maintained, evading the concept of balance of power. Fourthly, the paper debates the world of economic interdependence and states (US and China) which will dominate the 21st century. It relates this factor with specific reference to the European states, since their economies have majorly been at stake. The paper is limited to studying Sino-U.S. Competitions and Changes for the Global Political Order in the region of South Asia and European States. Conclusively, placing Chinainto an international order does not come by choice, instead it is a necessity.Henceforth, U.S. needs to ensure that China is not seen as a disruptive but a positive force with which international affairs have to be restructured and balanced
Does Human Development demand an independent policy in Pakistan?
No full textHuman development is significant for socially developed and strengthenednation. Pakistan is facing numerous issues. According to World Bank (2013),60%of population of Pakistan lives below poverty line. This percentage ofpopulation does not access basic necessities of life and humans are the mostneglected area of the country. This is evident by the absence of humandevelopment policy of Pakistan. This research aims to find out the need ofhaving an independent national policy for human development. The qualitativetechnique of research has been adopted in this regard and primary data hasbeen collected through interviews of participants belonged to the differentsectors of the society whereas secondary data has also been consulted. Thesample of the study has been selected through purposive sampling and datahas been analyzed through content analysis. The findings of this researchshow that national level policy is required for human development with theinput of all provinces. This policy can be considered as vision of Pakistan andall other policies are required to be aligned with this policy. The main elementsof human development are physical, social and intellectual development whereas health and education are core areas to consider for improvement for developing the humans physically, socially and intellectually. It is required to improve the quality of education and health at the grass root level through local government system for developing the humans physically and socially. The government is required to include the different sectors of society like private and NGOs to work with its collaboration in developing the humans of the country
New Institutionalism: Identifying Informal Institutions in the Political Process of Pakistan
No full textThis paper focuses on a recent theoretical perspective and approach in thestudy of political institutions--‘new institutionalism’. The primary aim of thepaper is to illustrate the theoretical assumptions of ‘new institutionalism’ withempirical evidence from Pakistan. The paper illustrates the theoretical assumptions of new institutionalism especially its distinction between formaland informal institutions. New institutionalism is quite distinctive in its emphasis on informal institutions rather than on formal ones. This study delineates such distinction by placing it in the context of political processes and structures in Pakistan. The paper argues that political processes and structures in Pakistan exhibit considerable presence of informal institutions though they often go unnoticed and along with them their influence on democratic governance. We expect that this paper will contribute to the existing literature by focusing on informal institutions, which does not get much attention in academic writings on the political process in Pakistan
Framing of Women in Politics: A case of Pakistani Elections 2013
No full textThis paper is a content analysis of four major dailies and two political talkshows on the two leading TV news channels of Pakistan during the 2013Elections. The study examines whether women in politics were portrayedmarginally or as active agents in the political process. The paper examines ifwomen were framed by stereotypes and whether they were taken seriously orsimply as sensational tokens. Whether during the election campaign they wereencouraged to come into politics and for voting? Findings show that thecoverage given to women was minimal, and they were not represente aspoliticians with vision and contributors in political decision making. However,female politicians did not suffer from the cultural stereotype treatment in thenews items. In the comparative analysis between Urdu and English dailies,English dailies coverage on women political participation was greater andmore positive than Urdu dailies
Challenges and Opportunities for Pak-China Security Environment in the perspective of United States India Strategic Partnership
No full textThe main focus of the article is on the Pakistan China security environment in the context of United States India strategic convergence and possible repercussions on the regional security particularly and global security as well. In this era momentous developments have taken place in the context of US-India strategic partnership. The United States is single super power in the world after the disintegration of the USSR. It is evident that the United States has short-term strategic targets as well as long term strategies in the regional and international politics. It seems that the United States is desirous to secure its protuberant and foremost status in the regional and international political scenario. United States have altered its policy towards South Asian order to achieve its core strategic intentions of having a dominant and leading status in the region in the backdrop of 9/11. The United States has restructured its security policy to accomplish its strategic objectives and has constructed its defense and military conglomerate with India. The United States and India have progressed to engaged egalitarianisms which is based on common strategic leverage in the region, political and economic gains. The designs and arrangements, United States and Indian developed cooperation is not of the same like in the cold war era between the stake holders but by using all the ways and diverse linkages, the United States is advancing its strategic policy objectives in the South Asia. This paper will explore the opportunities and challenges for Pakistan and China security environment in the context of these momentous developments in the region. The authors will also focus on the complicated security situation in South Asia to arrive at a logical solution
Challenges and Options for Pakistani Media in the 21st Century
No full textAccording to Wilbur Schramm (1964) mass media should perform at least three functions in developing countries; should serve as ‘watchdogs’, ‘policymakers’, and ‘teachers’ for change and modernization. In the wake of general elections 2013 in Pakistan, media played an important role to mobilize political behavior of the masses and the result was a remarkable voters’ turn out up to 55%. However, media is facing multiple challenges for example, due to suicide bombings, target killings and deteriorating law and order situation, security of journalists is at stake which is impeding the functions of media. In 2011, Pakistan was ranked the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists (FES, 2012, p. 6). FES1 reports on its website, “In 2011, 12 journalists were killed. The death of eight was directly linked to their work.” Decline of print media is another challenge. According to official facts and figures, newspapers and periodicals in Pakistan are decreasing day by day. In 2005 the figure was around 2000 and while it leaned to 749 in 2011. Media is obliged to look for other options. This paper reports challenges faced by media in post 2013 general elections in Pakistan and looks for options to cope with the challenges
Caught in the Crossfire: Aggression and Violence against Doctors in Pakistan after 9/11
No full textIn the backdrop of 9/11 and war against terror in Afghanistan, Pakistani society has witnessed recurrent episodes of conflict and violence. The level of intolerance has substantially increased and use of violent means has become a norm. While citizens across the board have suffered from rising insecurity, doctors have particularly been the victim of violence. This study intended to investigate the extent of violence committed against the doctors in the hospital settings, their coping strategies, and emotional sufferings due to their violence experiences. For data collection, cross sectional survey was conducted with 200randomly selected doctors in four randomly selected teaching hospitals of Lahore. The data revealed that house officers were most vulnerable to violence in the hospital setting among the doctors. Significant gender variations were observed and male doctors reported to have suffered more form violent acts ascompared to female doctors. Doctors mostly used passive coping strategies against violence and reporting to police was the least cited response. They felt angry over these incidents but reported to feel helpless about the situation. The study concluded that the root of problem lies in the inefficient health care system and the lack of capacity to cater the needs of population. It is suggested that the healthcare system in the country may be strengthened to the satisfaction of patients and his/her relatives so that the doctors may be protected against the aggression of disgruntled people
Urgency for Inter-State Dialogue for Fighting Terrorism in South Asia
No full textSouth Asia today is in limelight of the world again, this time due to the ongoing terrorism in the region. Amongst other states in this region are India andPakistan, the two antagonist and nuclear neighbors. The relations between the two countries are marred with tensions, conflicts and wars. At present theongoing bilateral dialogue and peace process has once again been disrupted due to rising tensions between the two regarding cross border terrorism. This studyattempts to investigate why there is urgency for interstate dialogue between India and Pakistan. The paper further highlights how the issue of terrorism hasadversely affected the peace efforts between the two countries and also the overall peace and security of South Asia. The paper concludes with the outcome that terrorism in the region can only be curtailed with joint efforts especially with regard to India and Pakistan
The Sati- a matter of high caste Hindus or a general Hindu Culture: A case study of Roop Kanwar.
No full textThe immolation of a widow on her late husband’s funeral pyre, which became known as sati, is considered to be the strongest expression of marital velour that a woman could demonstrate. It was declared illegal in 1829 by the British. Due to the low status of women in India, it is often the only way a widow will be revered following the passing of her husband and therefore often considered the only option appropriate. A prominent case of sati that has occurred within recent years has been the immolation of Roop Kanwar in the village of Rajasthan during September of 1987. With this case in view, Sati has become a modern phenomenon, and the reactions towards Roop Kanwar suggest that Sati is not wholly embodied within Hindu culture. Supporters of Sati are from the Rajput community and even then there is a definite line between the worship of Sati and the actual practice of it