UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
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A Glance at Federalism of Pakistan in perspective of Linguistic, Economic, Fiscal and Ethnic Dimensions
No full textFederalism is a form of state in which the component provinces and units under a political organization take part by sharing powers and functions through cooperative manners despite of having ethnic pluralism and cultural diversities. Federalism is considered to be wide range of institutional arrangements under the auspice of constitution to mitigate trust deficit and diversities to ensure political and social participation in acquiring national interests by maintaining political identities of distinct groups and units. A number of political scholars stated that the federal system of Pakistan remained under many martial laws imposed by various dictators or military men. They did not pay any attention for giving provincial autonomy to the federating units of the country without taking into account the participation of ethnic minorities. This structure of federalism was run by the military and civil bureaucracy for long since rather than democratic regimes. In addition, many time the constitutions of Pakistan such as 1956, 1962 and 1973 were abrogated and suspended during martial laws. Having hegemonic design of central government, plenty of time provincial governments were dissolved and emergencies were executed by interveningin the jurisdiction of provinces. This article analyzes the issues and conflicts emerged in the federal system of the country in the shape of distinct linguistic, economic, fiscal and ethnic dimensions by the monopoly of center. This article also sheds light on constitutional amendments done in various times till now
Indo-Pak Kashmir Conflict: Chinese Media Framing and Evolving Perspective
No full textBy adopting framing theory, this study examines the coverage of two Englishlanguage Chinese newspapers, namely China Daily and Global Times, on the current happenings in Indian held Kashmir (IHK) and escalations on Line of Control (LoC) to cognise Beijing‟s official perspective as a third key stakeholder of the valley. Content analysis is employed for a statistical analysis of dominant frames used by the Chinese press vis-à-vis the Indo-Pak Kashmir conflict in news reports from August 5 (annulment of Article 370 of the Indian constitution) to September 30, 2019 (last day of the 74th UNGA‟s session held at the United Nations). Findings suggest that both newspapers used almost similar frames for the Kashmir problem, nevertheless, with a difference in the ratio of coverage. Leadership frame was frequently used in the mediated texts, followed by conflict, peace, and responsibility frames, with primarily „episodic‟ reportage, which echoed that delays in IHK‟s resolution will have grave implications for regional stability. The study concludes that dominant frames reinforced by the press tow Beijing‟s current foreign, or say Kashmir, policy
Impact of High and Growing Public Debt on Economic Growth in SAARC Countries: An Econometric Analysis
No full textDeveloping countries of South Asia are continuously facing problems in managing and servicing their huge public debt obligations. This high level of public indebtedness has serious implications on countries economic development. However, their economic performance continues to deteriorate due to significant outflow of resources to meet their debt obligations. The study designs to examine the structure of public debt its implications on economic growth in of SAARC economies of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. For this purpose the penal data of selected countries for the period of 1990-2018 has been used. From the literature several factors through which public indebtedness effect economic growth have been identified: public debt to GDP ratio, debt servicing as a ratio of export earnings, net foreign financing as a ratio of total deficits, private and public investment as ratio of GDP. Besides these variables some policy, fundamental and shock variables like inflation, exchange rate, terms of trade and population growth. For analysis of data the econometrics techniques like Fixed Effect Model, Hausman Test and PMG/ PanelARDL approach have been applied to analyze the long run association among theregressors. The results of the study reveal that public debt negatively affected the economic performance both in short period and long period. The study concludes that presently, simultaneous achievement of desirable level of economic growth and public debt stock seems to be difficult and could remain elusive if some serious measures are not taken
Hegel’s Concept of State
No full textWestern Political philosophers have spoken about the concept of state and society inlarge. From Plato to Noam Chomsky one can read thinkers’ approach about state, its structure and Implications. Each interpreted the concept of state according to thetime he lived in and surroundings of state and societal institutions. With all differences and similarities the thinkers agreed and disagreed with one another. Hegel is one of the famous political thinkers who living in the agof of transition and change in the wake of French Revolution. To him, state is an institution of highest social, political and ethical culmination and exists for promotion of human freedom
U.S. War in Afghanistan: From Intervention to Counterinsurgency
No full textUS military intervention in Afghanistan was decisive and forceful, however, the Taliban’s insurgency inevitably transformed U.S. military doctrine and strategy from conventional military intervention into Counterinsurgency’s kinetic and non-kinetic operations. U.S. strategic and operational methodology despite exhausting all possibilities; troops’ surge, air dominance/surveillance, non kinetic peace building operations, failed to dislodge the threat of Taliban violence. An effort is made to identify the underlying factors contributory to the failure of the U.S. strategy, tactics and other challenges faced despite having unparalleled military superiority. This paper further probes the U.S. military strategic repositioning, social structure with the warlords and critically examines how the conflict drifted from intervention into Counterinsurgency irregular warfare
Deconstructing the Problematic Relationship of Pakistan and United States of America: Challenges and Opportunities for Pakistan
No full textPakistan established an alliance with the United States of America soon afterindependence, the relation from then is problematic. Pakistan-U.S. relations comprises of mutual trust and distrust. Pak-U.S. relationship has passed through many Ups as well as Downs, along with the era of convergences and divergences. Further Pak-U.S. relations are often amalgamation of conflicting interests. So this is an attempt to de/construct the various dimensions of Pakistan-U.S. relations. Pakistan aligned with United States of America since its inception as an independent State and this relation comprises of Mutual trust and mutual distrust by supporting each other on one side and pulling each other down on the other. This paper examines the problematic relationship and its impact upon Pakistan as well as the challenges and opportunities for Pakista
The Benefits of Regional Integration for Pakistan and Central Asian Republics
No full textRegional cooperation can give power to the small states and in order to get economic development, states usually prefer to enter in political and economic alliances. This paper examines the efforts of Pakistan and China to upgrade their regional cooperation through connectivity. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an important branch of Chinese mega project, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which intended to link South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa by using land and sea routes. The main argument is that CPEC will bring comprehensive changes in the economy of Pakistan and it would be beneficial for neighboring countries particularly CARs. CPEC has steered several other economic projects such as signing of Central Asia-South Asia (CASA-1000) envisages cooperation between two regions. Similarly, groundbreaking ceremony of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India Pipeline (TAPI) reflects revamping of relations between states. The paper is set out in the perspective of available harmonious grounds for Pakistan and CARs. It also examines the various facets of the utility of CPEC for China, Pakistan and CARs
Governance and Ethno-Nationalism: Analyzing role of intellgentsia in shaping Pashtun Ethno-Nationalism
No full textGovernance and ethno-nationalism has been closely interlinked in context of Pakistan. A strong central government endowed with all powers and authority to subdue the provincial governments has given birth to the politics of regionalism and ethnonationalism. The peripheral elite have strongly resisted the highly centralized pattern of governance. They have developed a strong counter-narrative to mobilize the marginalized ethnic groups. The ability of peripheral elites to politicize social, economic and cultural fault lines has hampered the creation of an integrated and coherent nation. It has prolonged the life span of ethnic politics for a period of seventy years. The advent of modern means of communication and the rapidly changing political environment has provided a fertile ground for the proliferation of nationalist sentiments. In this paper it has been argued that media and Pashtun Protection Movement or Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has enabled the Pashtun intelligentsia to shape the face of Pashtun Ethno-Nationalism. They have provided a platform and a means of communication for transmitting message to mobilize the masses
United States Dilemma of Strategic Alliance with Pakistan: From ‘Policy of Containment’ to ‘War against Terrorism’
No full textThis study has questioned the very legitimacy and ability of United States to honor bilateral relations that it commits under strategic partnerships. The investigation makes the point that partner nations with United States are used as a tool to pursue foreign policy priorities in regions of strategic interest. Partner nations are usually vulnerable to United States international influence in political, economic, diplomatic and military domains. United States due to its international leverage most of the time gets an easy way out in the so-called strategic partnerships but at times when partner nations are in need of dire support, Washington prefers to backtrack from its commitments. This paper has considered South Asia as a case study to contest United States context of „strategic alliance‟ as a mean to pursue foreign policy priorities with Pakistan. The vulnerabilities of Pakistan time and again have allowed United States topositively negotiate best deals for Washington, which in-turn brought politicalcomplications for the partner nation. This study makes the point that nature ofbilateral relations between Pakistan and United States are multifaceted, whereas the phenomenon of „containment of communism‟ initially the Soviet and now the Chinese had become the most decisive factor behind their strategic orientation. US failure to attain its objectives from Pakistan had always made India the ultimate choice, which in turn uses Washington‟s leverage to craft South Asian political order in its favor. The study has applied inductive method with that of „Analytical Eclecticism‟ approach to evaluate the ups and downs of the two inconvenient strategic allies and decoded the so-called premises of the Indo-US strategic alliance which is founded on the political orchestration to contain Chinese increasing influence
Intrastate Hydro Politics: Issues of Hydro Resource Management in India
No full textThis article addresses the intrastate hydro issues and conflicts in India. With theadvancement of industrial development, the issue of hydro resource sharing andacquisition has emerged as a major issue in the country. Presently Indian states are facing serious disputes over the hydro resource sharing formulas and construction of mega water reservoirs over the shared water resources. Water deprivation has even compelled some states to demand for themselves a separate state, causing alienation from the Indian federation. This article strives to look into the parameters adopted by the federal government of India for resolution of the issues. It also investigates how India has been unable to adopt and devise a permanent hydro management policy. The expert view opines that if the grim hydro management situation is not addressed properly it may lead to water scarcity and consequent deteriorated internal political scenario. This article suggests that this issue can be resolved through viable hydro management strategies that involve all stakeholders with a positive purpose to satisfy each one of them. Ultimately, it is suggested that unless India improves its water sharing mechanisms with the neighboring countries, the internal strategies to resolve the issue would go in vain