Dr. Aafia Siddiqui: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Who is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui? This article explores the life and troubles of the Pakistani scientist who has been at the center of a global controversy.
By all accounts, Dr. Siddiqui’s story is known to be of grave injustice and tragedy.
Pakistan-US Relations: As Fickle as the Weather
The US has had a turbulent relationship with Pakistan since the country’s independence in 1947. Over the course of 75 years, minor changes have occurred in the way bilateral exchanges are conducted between the two nations.
Despite the rollercoaster relationship, the US has assisted Pakistan by providing necessary loans, humanitarian aid, and military equipment during exigent situations.
Moreover, the US is a major foreign direct investor in Pakistan’s economy, and its largest export partner.
However, bilateral relations between the two have been deteriorating because of scathing remarks and underhanded activities.
The Highs and Lows of Pak-US Relations: From the Cold War to Now
The relations between Pakistan and the United States have always been based upon national interests and America’s dominant power position. While analyzing the history of this relationship, Aamina Binte Khurram argues that since the 1950s, the US has done its best to influence Pakistan’s foreign and domestic policies and pressurized the state to do its bidding in the South Asian region. The United States has leveraged Pakistan’s weaker position, and coerced Pakistani leaders on many occasions. Hence, it comes as no surprise that the Pakistan-US relationship has been marred with periods of hostility whenever the interests of the two states have diverged.
Is Military Force Effective in Responding to a Terrorist Insurgency?
Military force becomes mandatory when a deadly insurgent group, the likes of an ISIS or the LTTE, is present in a country. However, contemporary history reaffirms that the role of the military should be limited to defeating an insurgency militarily only. In other words, military force is one part of a larger counterinsurgency framework and is thus a means to an end. A true victory is achieved when the causes of an insurgency are addressed.
The Definition of Terrorism & Its Ambiguity
To date, the concept of terrorism is without a universally accepted definition. This has severe practical repercussions in global politics. The paper analyzes various terrorism studies in order to highlight the definitional issues of terrorism.