Islamabad — 9DASHLINE

Counter-insurgency dynamics in Balochistan: Examining militant surrenders and resurgences

Written by Sajid Aziz

The twin threats of separatist movement and militancy by religious-ethnic groups in Pakistan and Iran, respectively, have been perennial sources of mistrust, mutual accusations, frequent border skirmishes, and the recent military strikes and counter-strikes between the two states.

Faultlines9DLFebruary 20, 20249DASHLINE, Sajid Aziz, Counter-insurgency dynamics in Balochistan: Examining militant surrenders and resurgences, Pakistan, Balochistan, Sarfaraz Bangulzai, Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), surrender, Balochistan’s separatist movement, separatism, separatist militant organisation, independence, Baloch Republican Army (BRA), United Baloch Army (UBA), Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan’s armed forces, Gulzar Imam, military, intelligence, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), violence, Baloch, securitised, Demobilisation, Babar Yousaf, armed struggle, counter-insurgency, fighters, militants, insurgency, amnesty, decapitation strategy, infighting, terrorism, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), middle class, Fedayeen attacks, Majeed Brigade, security forces, Panjgur and Nushki districts, Chinese nationals, suicide attacks, human rights violations, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Iran-Pakistan border, Iran, Gwader, Chahbar, port, Tehran, Islamabad, human smuggling, drug trafficking, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Pakistan’s election — a primer

Written by Dr Filippo Boni

Pakistan is scheduled to hold its twelfth general election on 8 February, amid a deteriorating security situation in parts of the country, allegations of an uneven playing field against the former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party, and with China and the United States waiting to find out who will lead the next Pakistani government.

South Asia9DLFebruary 5, 20249dashline, A primer on Pakistan’s elections, Filippo Boni, Pakistan, elections, Nawaz Sharif, Hafizabad, disqualification, general election, deteriorating security situation, uneven electoral playing field, Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, state secrets leak, imprisonment, military, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, PML-N, cricket bat logo, electoral candidates, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Peoples Party, PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, climate change, policy position, electoral campaign, media freedom, Coalition for Free Media, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, PFUJ, Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors, CPNE, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan, TTP, militant groups, Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP, Balochistan, separatist militant groups, bilateral crisis, Iran, missile strike, Islamabad, Iran-Pakistan, Iran-Pakistan tensions, borders, US, China, Sino-Pakistani bilateral ties, BRI, CPEC, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, socio-economic development, military leadership, Afghanistan, President Biden, Shahbaz Sharif, UNGA, US-Pakistan relations, domestic security, regional security

China’s uncertain future as a global security provider

Written by Lukas Fiala

The key question is whether Xi’s growing assertiveness and inadequacy of existing means to ensure the security of Chinese entities abroad will lead to a more pronounced security footprint over the coming decade, featuring new military base arrangements and, potentially, institutionalised security guarantees.

Faultlines9DLAugust 11, 2023China’s uncertain future as a global security provider, Lukas Fiala, 9DashLine, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Beijing, Global South, security, mediator, Riyadh, Tehran, Middle East, Washington, diplomacy, isolation, COVID-19, pandemic, United States, China’s overseas security strategy, strategy, foreign policy, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping, mediation, peace and security, peace broker, non-state actors, intrastate conflicts, statist approach, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, security and defence cooperation, Hu Jintao, United Nations peacekeeping (UNPK) missions, South Sudan, Mali, Africa, Latin America, multilateral, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), military base in Djibouti, Global Security Initiative (GSI), security actor, US-led global security order, global security governance, UN Charter, indivisible security, sovereignty, 1975 Helsinki Accords, Vladimir Putin, NATO expansion, NATO, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western imperialism, imperial history, Western colonial powers, century of national humiliation, Soviet Union, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Western hegemony, principle of non-interference, non-aligned movement, Cold War, non-intervention, 干涉, 干预, security provider, Sudan, Libya, ‘Go Out Strategy’ (走出去战略), Chinese state-owned enterprises, natural resources, raw materials, multilateral lenders, development finance, human rights, good governance, 2008 Beijing Olympics, al-Bashir regime, African Union, Darfur, Libyan civil war, People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA), Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, Chinese interests, power projection, security-development nexus, liberal peace, developmental peace, Ethiopia, civil war, Pakistan, South Asia, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamic extremism, Islamabad, sovereign lender, arbiter, Abiy Ahmed, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Saudi-Iran rapprochement, Iraq, Afghanistan, global war on terror, piracy, Gulf of Aden, 9dashline

The Taliban continues to struggle for international recognition

Written by Dante Schulz

The Taliban’s inability to address the security and economic concerns of its partners will only exacerbate the glaring issues plaguing Afghanistan.

Faultlines9DLMarch 21, 20239DashLine, The Taliban continues to struggle for international recognition, Dante Schulz, Taliban, Afghan Acting Minister of Interior Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, European Union, Afghanistan, humanitarian assistance, diplomacy, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, official recognition, Taliban regime, human rights, terrorist groups, terrorism, Kabul, Afghan Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi, Turkey, Antalya Diplomacy Forum, China, Tunxi Neighbouring Countries Meeting, Tashkent International Conference, Central Asia, Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, NATO, India, embassy, national security, Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company, investment, Afghanistan’s Amu Darya river basin, Chinese-Taliban economic partnership, United Nations, ban women from attending universities, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, ban on female aid workers, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks, inclusive government, displacement, ethnic minorities, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Islamabad, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Obaid ur Rehman Nizamani, global caliphate, Chinese Ambassador Wang Yu, ceasefire

Bite the hand that fed you: Imran Khan’s populist challenge for the military

Written by Marcus Andreopoulos

Out of office, Khan is proving to be a relentless source of pressure, first for Bajwa and now for Munir. Khan has accused the military of holding the country back during a time of economic and humanitarian catastrophe.

South Asia, Power Politics9DLFebruary 22, 20239DashLine, Bite the hand that fed you: Imran Khan’s populist challenge for the military, Marcus Andreopoulus, Pakistan, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, General Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), elections, military, tensions with India, Taliban, Afghanistan, Durand Line, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, Islamabad, military aid, Washington, united states, Beijing, Imran Khan, populism, populist rhetoric, Russia, mafia media, general election of 2018, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League (N), General Pervez Musharraf, 1999 military coup, Sharif and Bhutto Zardari dynasties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), domestic policy, defence, security, and foreign policy, civilian government, financial crisis, military budget, celebrity politicians, Donald Trump, anti-establishment statements, corruption, political elite, cult of personality, us versus them, minority rights, equality, Islamic welfare state, geo-economics, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), mob lynchings, blasphemy laws, primacy of the military, Chief Minister of Punjab Aleem Khan, military’s intelligence wing (ISI), Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, conspiracy, Arshad Sharif, United States Capitol

A united Taliban — an existential threat to Pakistan

Written by Dr Siegfried O. Wolf

Islamabad must realise that the Taliban constitutes a hostile government in Afghanistan and that it is not able to drive a wedge between the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban.

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Pakistan’s fatiguing interest in the IMF reform program

Written by Asad Ejaz Butt

While Pakistan does not have any alternate short-term options other than returning to the IMF, it can consider structural reforms, like targeted subsidies and rationalisation of current expenditure through fiscal prudence and better management of state resources.

South Asia9DLDecember 19, 20229dashline, Pakistan’s Fatiguing Interest in the IMF Reform Program, Asad Ejaz Butt, Pakistan, South Asian Voices, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Islamabad, IMF’s Pakistan program, economy, economic crisis, floods, flash floods, macro-fiscal stability, Ishaq Dar, Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Finance Minister, fiscal discipline, IMF headquarters, self-sufficiency, Washington, extended fund facility (EFF), staff-level agreement, fiscal and external imbalances, procyclical, economic indicators, account and fiscal deficits, long-term structural reforms, fiscal consolidation, bail-out, loan, loans, macroeconomic stability, commercial bank, banking, Imran Khan, PTI government, PTI, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), nudge, Fiscal and current account deficits, economic collapse, policy rate, monetary tightening prescription, tax, tax revenues, currency, devaluation, free-market and laissez-faire economics, cash, mortgage financing, inflation, business, fiscal deficits, expenditure, debt, debt servicing payments, rupee, rupee devaluation, exports, imports, remittances, oil imports, foreign exchange flexibility, subsidies, donor, donor and IMF fatigue, World Bank, Sri Lanka

Imran Khan — the end of a civilian dictator

Written by Ayesha Siddiqa

Indeed, in his political career spanning about two decades, he never learned the art of adjustment, honouring commitments, or following principles. He remained a good agitator, a master in building a popular narrative and catching people’s imagination, but without the capacity to deliver.

Pakistan’s drift towards China: maintaining neutrality amid great power competition

Written by Namra Naseer

So far, Pakistan has not been the main arena of US-China competition. It need not become so, specifically if the country takes effective steps to improve bilateral relations with the United States and retain its autonomy in the growing ties with China.