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As the US Congress scrutinises the Iran accord, partisanship on Capitol Hill might reach new heights and it will capture headlines. Whether Congress passes the Iran deal or not, it will loom large in the election debates because of its connection to American and Israeli national security, though it is unlikely to be a real game changer in the elections.

This brief examines the Kashmir conflict from the perspective of the young population who have grown up in tumultuous times in the Valley. It builds on findings of field surveys conducted by the author across the Kashmir Valley over the last two years, covering issues that remain unanswered three decades since the start of the insurgency. These topics include Kashmiriyat, the exodus of pandits, governance and administration, the post-2016 unrest

Since 1947, parts of Jammu and Kashmir have been under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, with India referring to the area as ‘Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)’. The stolen region comprises two ethnically and linguistically different regions: what Pakistan calls, ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ or AJK, which includes parts of Kashmir and Jammu; and Gilgit Baltistan, which is the northern most tip of Kashmir and covers parts of Ladakh. While Gilgit

This paper dissects the history and politics of Gilgit-Baltistan, a part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), from the 1980s to the present day. It analyses the policies implemented by Pakistani leaders in the region and how successive political parties have attempted to justify Pakistan’s administrative control of it while disregarding any democratic, secular or moral principles in the ruling of its supposed subjects. The pap

Karachi, on an average, witnesses close to 800 killings per year, mainly the result of ethnic/political violence. This year, the city has been extremely violent. More than 800 people have lost their lives till the first week of August.

In West Asia, regional powers increasingly fear that the external dynamics of the regional political landscape coupled with the restive internal dynamics of Turkey, Syria and Iraq could potentially unify fractured Kurdish movements and destabilise the region at large.

The United Nations Security Council, the UN's most powerful body tasked to maintain international peace and security, is failing in its mandate. Its rigid institutional setting, the privileged status of core UN members, and the continuing lack of voice of many countries, have increased the risk of dramatic and systemic failures and shaken the legitimacy and centrality of the UN in the international system. This paper proposes a new solution in th

Israel believes that the use of force is essential to stopping Iran from making the nuclear bomb. A vocal section of the strategic affairs community in the United States agrees with the proposition. This brief argues that military means are unlikely to sabotage the nuclear weapons programme of an advanced-stage bomb-seeker like Iran. Moreover, use of force could be counterproductive as it can incentivise Iran’s pursuit of the bomb, and it may e

Why multilateralism is in such a mess today boils down to three reasons: disillusionment with globalisation, lacklustre narratives in support of multi

During an interaction at ORF, Maldives' delegation of senior officials reassured the audience that the Maldivian Constitution continues to restrict establishment of foreign military facilities and that Male will never compromise the security balance of the Indian Ocean.

India’s financial aid to the Philippines to fight the Islamic State signals a reworking of its Asean outreach

Thankfully the accidental firing of an Indian missile into Pakistani territory did not lead to escalation, but many questions remain unanswered about what happened.

Solutions to the problem are pretty obvious. The first step is to set the policy right. Governments have to begin by scrapping the rent laws as they s

How did Ukraine’s presence influence the Vilnius summit? Why did Turkey lift its opposition against Sweden?

Is Pakistan simply incapable in securing terrorists or are they hand-in-glove with them?

India should quickly adapt and learn from the gaps exposed in the Russian military during the Ukraine crisis.

With strong convergences of strategic interests, military-security cooperation looks promising between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Pakistan’s new government rests on a stolen mandate engineered by the military

Despite the previous impediments to the MCC-Nepal Compact, it has finally been given the green light.

Conventional theories have become insufficient in explaining the complexities of terrorist action. This brief offers an integrative approach that borrows from psychology, inter-group conflict theory and neuroscience to understand the mind of a terrorist and, by extension, inform counterterrorism strategies. It provides evidence against popular beliefs about terrorists as principally being religious extremists who lack a moral compass and belong t

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) must account for the possibility of interstate migration, rapid urbanisation and possible changes in the social fabric as populations react to new job opportunities.

The tattered legacy left by predecessor Gen. Bajwa pushes Gen. Munir to mend the army’s tarnished image

The workplace of the future must acknowledge and embrace a more well-rounded conception of the home and work, including valuing the full range of expe

The ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict demands a delicate balance from Tokyo, as it navigates its relationships in the Middle East alongside its internatio

Saudi Arabia being a swing producer now holds the capacity to quickly increase oil production substantially, while simultaneously dominating the oil a

With the risks for escalation and miscalculations growing in the Ukraine war, it is time to revisit the sobering lessons of 1962

The Seychelles has taken proactive legislative steps to ensure that the pandemic’s impact on children is reduced

The whole idea of ISIS Jammu & Kashmir (ISJK) is a misnomer, and its legitimacy or illegitimacy in the future of the Kashmir valley depends on Ind

This brief explores some of the deeper, and more troubling, effects of the pervasive spread of the logic of technology on social, cultural, and political life. The author critiques the predominant tech-utopian perspective, which frames ever further and faster technological development as critical to continuing social progress, using Neil Postman’s concept of the ‘technopoly’. The brief uses as an example the influence of the logic o

A deliberate strategy of not tackling the novel coronavirus from the start has left the pandemic out of control in Brazil.

Once Narendra Modi steps away from the minefield of Nepal's domestic discourse on the Hindu state, the Indian Prime Minister will find the shared Hindu and Buddhist heritage a solid foundation on which to build a new and lasting edifice of bilateral cooperation.

With both China and the United States jockeying for position, nearly every geopolitical challenge facing Asia will be exacerbated by this new phase of

If a Chinese-funded military base were to come to Cambodia, it will affect regional security in the Southeast Asian region.