UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
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Middle East in Crisis
No full textIn the contemporary times, Middle East is engulfed in multiple crises ranging from contention amongst rival states to the terrorism. In addition to that, insurgencies, civil wars and proxies, a very active role of non-state actors as well as extra regional players have become a constant feature while defining Middle Eastern politics. This research study would analyze these conflicts from multiple perspectives that include economic, social and demographic structures that contributed in ignition of the crises in Middle East. Furthermore, the incongruence amongst various actors in Middle East severed and aggravated the crises that Middle East is facing in current era. This research study argues that a comprehensive and multilateral approach is required to resolve these issues, which are affecting Middle East
Framing of ‘Operation Decisive Storm’ and Saudi e-press
No full textThe Saudi e-press coverage and treatment of the Operation Decisive Storm isexamined through an analysis of media frames for the type of coverage, paths ofpersuasion, lexical choices, referential frameworks, framing strategies, and policy patterns for the Operation Decisive Storm campaign. Through content analysis of the op-ed pages of Al-Riyadh, Al-Madina, and Al-Youm, for the period from 26/03/2015 to 22/04/2015, the study concludes the following: political aspects formed a large proportion (90.3%) of the editorials covered in the Saudi e-newspapers, followed by the military developments, and the support for the legitimate Yemeni government. The supportive coverage reached (93.5%), indicating that the editorial policies of Saudi e-newspapers are in line with the policy of the leadership of Saudi Arabia. The results also revealed that fear/danger is commonly used as a strategy and Iran is used to create danger/fear not only for Yemen but for the entire Gulf region
Pakistan and the SCO – Aspirations and Challenges!
No full textShanghai Cooperation Organization remains a pivot of opportunities and challenges for Pakistan. Earlier this year, SCO‟s Qingdao declaration reinforced the Shanghai Spirit of mutual respect, mutual cooperation, and peaceful settlement of disputes. Qingdao Summit reinforced SCO‟s emphasis on the reconfiguration of the geopolitical landscape and shift towards a multipolar world. Parallel with this, shared economic integration and security coordination among the SCO members enveloped the summit mood. All this encapsulates Islamabad‟s world view and strides on the diplomatic, political, economic, and strategic aspects at the bilateral, multilateral and international level. Pakistan has always stood for the „Peace within and Peace outside‟ based on principle of equality and multi-polarity at the regional and global level. In the pursuit of these goals Islamabad joined SCO initially as the observer state and later year was accorded permanent membership. SCO provides Islamabad multipleopportunities of the economic, diplomatic, political and strategic nature in line with its national, regional and global aspirations. The paper analyses the Islamabad‟s interaction pattern within the SCO in view of its stated goals and aspirations. The study explores the following fundamental queries: Why Pakistan joined SCO? What are the opportunities and challenges that Pakistan faces as an SCO permanent member
Corporate Governance and Cost of Equity: Evidence from Asian Countries
No full textThis paper investigates the extent to which governance affect firms' cost of equity capital in Asian countries by employing a regression model on panel data of the 24Asian countries over the period of 2006 to 2015. The results depict that Quality ofCorporate Governance (QCG) index has significant relationship in reducing cost ofequity for firms in Asian countries. The results also indicate that explicit corporategovernance variables like; board independence, audit committee independence,ownership concentration and CEO duality have also significant association with firm‟s cost of equity in Asian countries which is in accordance with the agency theory
Iran against Islamic State (Daesh): Political Impacts on Pakistan
No full textIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is said to be aTakfiri group, is mainly grabbed from Sunni areas of Syria and Iraq. Some other Muslim states also have their participation in IS by different means. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are in list of countries that were in foundation of Islamic State. In start they were in Syria and Iraq but now have their affiliations in many regions and countries. The Islamic State (IS) is a big threat to Middle East and world. It is argued that many European and Pakistani nationals are also part of Islamic State. Pakistani Talban's have affiliations with Baghdadi, and it is trouble for Pakistan in future. The proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia is problem for Pakistan and Muslim world because both are supporting their allies and muscles. 300 Saudis have killed in Syria in February 2014, which also is the highest number of loss of life among Saudi nationals. In March 2014, a Saudi official said that 1,200 Saudi citizens have traveled to fight the Assad regime. US has also its role in IS and following duel policy against IS in Iraq and Syria. Russia is strong supporter of Asad and has launched a military and air strike against anti Asad forces.The main purpose of this research is to analyze process of evolution of Islamic State (IS) and its impacts both political and strategic not only on the Middle East buton Pakistan also
Religious Extremism in Nigeria: Boko Haram as Case Study
No full textThe world observed the transformation process of Continent Africa from Colonialism to independence with hopes and fears. In Cold War Era, the African states have been engaged by the superpowers, on strategic and economic fronts, with certain limitations. On the other hand, in Post-Cold War phase, the Continent Africa had been addressed with laudable objectives. Now, the wave of religious extremism, in Continent Africa, has been perceived as a serious security threat, compelled to the international community to pay serious attention to deal the African states. There is no doubt that the entire region has multidimensional challenges and opportunities and its picture has to be drawn at larger canvass. The objective of the present research paper is to analyze those factors, which given space to Boko Haram, a religious extremist organization, in Nigeria. No exaggeration in saying Boko Haram extremely disturbed the internal and external dynamic of the state. Now, it has become a burden on the political and economic life of Nigeria. The qualitative research methodology has beenused to argue the issue of religious militancy in Nigeria, in the context of Boko Haram. Secondary source of data has been used by keeping in mind the theoretical nature of the research paper. The study determines that the military operations are not sole solution to counter the religious extremism of Boko Haram until the economic, social and political issues of the Nigerian society are not addressed. There is a dire need to establish strong commitment level of the common Nigerian over the political system otherwise the issue of Boko Haram will remain intact
Mapping success and failure: A comparative case study of South Asian separatist movements using lenses of contentious politics
No full textFriction among structure, culture and rationality paradigms is central to the field of Comparative Politics. Scholars of Contentious Politics are trying to bridge gap among them by converting episodes of contention into mechanisms and processes for analysis and then by connecting origin of contention to its outcome. They used lenses of Contentious Politics (i.e. structurally rooted political process approach, rationality based resource mobilization and collective action perspective as well as culturist based framing perspective) to explain social movements and bridge this gap (McAdam, Tarrow & Tilly, 2009). Using lenses of contentious politics, this study not only strives to further converge these paradigms but also aims to explain why and how separatist movements should be studied using umbrella of contentious Politics and social movement.It is a comparative case study of separatist movement of Baluchistan and Bangladesh. The literature regarding separatist movement is multidimensional. This research is also an attempt to develop a coherent and well organized approach to study separatist movements. Ample literature exists regarding take off and progression of social movements. However, no work has been done explaining what happens when a movement reaches to its tipping point. This research fills this gap by explaining how and why some separatist movements succeed while others don’t. This study is unique in that just as American scholars it focuses on one country but at the same time employs the European scholars’ tradition of comparing two movements but within the same country
Sino-US Kashmir Policy: Analyzing The Bilateral Approach
No full textSino-Indian stand-off in Galwan has revived world attention to the dispute in Kashmir. Indian revocation of Article 370 and Article 35-A propped up diverse responses from the international community. China condemned Indian abrogation and the US offered to mediate on Kashmir. Trump’s offer of mediation opened up a pandora box of strong opposition in Indian Lok Sabha. Resolute criticism unleashed on Modi for compromising on Indian national security objectives and territorial integrity. Reflecting the urgency and complications involved in conflict resolution, the propensity of nuclear confrontation in South Asia remains high in Kashmir. US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has declared Human Rights in Kashmir as integral part of his electoral agenda. The US State Department has declared no change in its historic Kashmir policy, while China has resented Indian unilateral change in the region’s status. Great powers’ involvement in regional conflicts has been fluid, fluctuating with the change in their national security interests. Broad contours of national security objectives have shaped Sino-US Kashmir policy in the past. Employing qualitative research methodology and theoretical perspective of complex interdependence, the article reviews Sino-US traditional policy roles in conflict resolution on Kashmir. How has the US and Chinese Kashmir policy evolved over the years? What impactdoes the US and Chinese Kashmir policy has on regional stability? The article argues that great powers’ involvement has inflicted more injury than cure, exacerbating regional tensions. Great powers’ alignment along opposite poles has increased India-Pakistan bilateral hostilities on Kashmir. Sino-US insistence on Indo-Pakistan bilateral approach for conflict resolution rather than the UN framework has created the impasse on Kashmir
Democracy of Pakistan and Dilemma of Liberalism under Constant Struggle with Religious Nationalism and Politicized Institutions
No full textDemocracy in 21st century is challenged with valiant contemporary issues of globalization, terrorism, media and information revolution. Due to these issues, today’s democracy has been amalgamated with threats of authoritarianism, military coup d’état, extremism, terrorism, liberalism, and right activist movements which have constantly tried to weakened down the framework of democratic policies in any country. This research article has focused on the objective of constant struggle of Pakistan with a focus on current governmental regime and its liberal policies in order to steer the wheel of country towards true democracy. The methodology of paper is descriptive and qualitative in nature in which dependent variable of Pakistan’s democracy has been analyzed with the independent variables of religious and politicized institutions which are acting as hurdle in attaining sustained democratic system in the country, whereas dilemma of liberalism is acting as an intervening variable in between these. The relationship between the right wing movements, including the religion based nationalism dilemma will be analyzed in order to know its influence whether it can work as a supplement for a better democratic future of Pakistan or will create more hurdles in it
The Fifth Political Theory and Countering Terrorism in the Post 9/11 Era
No full textThis paper is going to explain about the Fifth Political Theory that challenges allexisting three plus one (Capitalism, Marxism and Fascism + Fourth Political Theory) theories. It says, “it is human ambiance evolve any political system to survive instead of borrowing other imported thoughts to live in a specific environment, in which Legitimacy leads to authority and promotes humanism.” According to this theory no other state is allowed to dictate or install any political system upon other states. It is the born right of individuals to choose a political system or a set of values that is going to make their structures and functions efficient enough to support the system harmony and counter the negative forces successfully. In the post 9/11 era, it is observed that all existing theories like Capitalism, Marxism, Fascism and Fourth Political Theory remained unsuccessful in resolving the global crises. The so called war against terrorism is proved as war for terrorism and creates a vacuum at the global stage, worsening the crises. The fifth political theory is an answer to counter terrorism in the twenty first century. It calls for accountability of the United Nations for its failure in sustaining peace at global level. Therefore, the UN charter is supposed to beimplemented in its true letter and spirit. All independent sovereign states have right to evolve their own system to carry out a political system that suit them best for sustaining harmony at home. This is the only way to counter terrorism. This paper is comprised of mixed method. Qualitative, quantitative and comparative methods will be used along with secondary sources. The objective of this paper is to create knowledge for the benefit of human beings with a logical and rationale argument. It will help political scientists and scholars in conflict management and countering terrorism on pragmatic grounds