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2
 TABLE OF
CONTENT
1 Monthly Round Up 04

2 National 08

a. Polarisation In Pakistan: What Are Its Impacts? 09

b. The Structural Analysis Of The Governance Crisis In Pakistan 12
c. Innovative Entrepreneurship Will Change The Fate Of Pakistan 14
d. What Ought To Be Done To Revamp The Education System Of 18
Pakistan?

3 International 21

a. Modi-fication Of India Has Tarnished Its Secular Outlook 22

b. China’s Xi Visits Ksa: Will It Increase China’s Influence In The 26
Middle East?
c. Uncertain Geopolitics in 2023 29
d. 2022 Was a Year of Global Unrest 32

4 Monthly Press Review 37

5 Book Review 59

6 MCQs Compilation 65

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3
EDITION 7
VOLUME 3
CSS | CHRONICLES

MONTHLY ROUND UP:

DECEMBER AT A GLANCE

4
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

Dates Events

1 A day after an attack claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban

Pakistan (TTP) took the lives of four people in Quetta, Interior Minister
Rana Sanaullah denied the initiation of formal talks with the terror
outfit and vowed a crushing response by security forces to nip the
terror threat in the bud.

2 A day after Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed the parliament

had authorised military leadership to hold talks with outlawed
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), lawmakers from within the ruling
coalition made it clear that this was not the case.

3 In his first visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) after assuming
command, Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir warned India
against any misadventure, saying that such a move would be met
with `the full might of our armed forces`.

4 The United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF) said the polio

programme in Pakistan is back on track and expressed the hope that
the crippling disease will be eradicated from the country by the end
of 2023 following effective measures to control its spread.

5 Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives

Ahsan Iqbal announced dissolution of National Flood Response
Coordination Centre (NFRCC), hailing its role in mitigating the impact
of the recent massive floods.

6 Police sprang into action, registering an FIR on Arshad Sharif`s

murder on the directions of the Supreme Court nearly six weeks after
the journalist`s assassination.

7 A research paper published by international investment bank

Goldman Sachs said Pakistan may well be the sixth largest economy
in the world by 2075 given `appropriate policies and institutions` are
in place.

8 A document prepared by the National Counter-Terrorism Authority

(NACTA) presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Interior
blamed the `peace talks` with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
for an increase in terror attacks across the country.

9 The United States has reiterated its commitment to working with

Pakistan to support flood recovery efforts in the country. US Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Elizabeth Horst
concluded her two-day visit to Islamabad, during which she
discussed the US support for Pakistan`s flood recovery with
government leaders.

10 Determined to hold local government polls in Punjab, the Election

Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a schedule for the delimitation
of constituencies for the electoral exercise slated to be held in the

5
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

Dates Events

last week of April 2023.

11 After the Supreme Court endorsed a settlement deal worth over $6.5
billion last week, the government approved a payment of more than
$900 million to the Chilean firm Antofagasta over six years to exit the
Reko Dig project.

12 Pakistan has put one of its diplomatic properties in the US capital — a

building on the prestigious R Street NW — for sale, with officials
insisting that neither the new nor the old embassies are up for sale.

13 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking of the

306-kilometre Sukkur-Hyderabad section of the M6 motorway, which
would mark the completion of the Karachi-Peshawar motorway
corridor connecting major cities.

14 Three civilians were killed and 14 others, including nine security

personnel, wounded in a suicide attack in the Sargardan area of
North Waziristan tribal district.

15 Four days after Afghan authorities `apologised` to Islamabad over

cross-border shelling that claimed the lives of eight people, armed
clashes erupted between security forces from Pakistan and
Afghanistan at the border in Chaman, leaving at least one dead and
15 others injured.

16 The Senate passed a bill to amend the Foreign Investment

(Promotion and Protection) Act to limit its scope in Balochistan to the
Reko Diq project.

17 A day after armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces

claimed one life, the situation at the Chaman border remained calm
with routine trade activities continuing unabated.

18 As Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrives in the American

capital, he has a difficult mission: underlining the need for stronger
ties with the United States without disturbing its close relationship
with China.

19 Detained militants inside a Bannu CTD facility took over its

compound, held interrogators hostage and demanded safe
evacuation to Afghanistan, while in a separate terrorist attack four
policemen were martyred in Lakki Marwat, police confirmed.

20 More than 190 countries approved a historic deal to reverse decades

of environmental destruction threatening the world`s species and
ecosystems at a marathon UN biodiversity summit early.

21 The standoff between the security forces and banned

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants continued as the

6
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

Dates Events

Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) centre in Bannu remained

under the militants` control.

22 The central bank has lowered its projected GDP growth from the
previously announced range of 3-4 percent for the current fiscal
year, citing flood-induced destruction and the stabilisation policy as
major factors in its flagship economic health report released.

23 Ending the uncertainty with regard to the appointment of new head

of Punjab police, the federal government late posted Muhammad
Amir Zulfiqar Khan as provincial police chief.

24 The State Bank of Pakistan eased imports of several essential items

required as raw material and some basic needs of the exporters.

25 The Japan International Cooperation Agency`s (Jica) Pakistan Office

has provided 9,000 mosquito nets, 80,000 ORS and 400,000 water
purification tablets to support the people affected by recent floods in
districts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

26 The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) put an end to the

uncertainty surrounding the local government elections in
Islamabad as it postponed the polls `for the time being` at the last
minute, frustrating thousands of contestants and their supporters.

27 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to convert all government

buildings in the country to solar power, starting from those belonging
to federal government entities by April to save 300 to 500 megawatts
per month and slash the import bill hovering around $27 billion a
year.

28 This summer`s floods in Pakistan were a stark reminder that the

changing climate will bring more disasters in the near future, warns a
UN report released.

29 Three Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in the Arawali area of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`s Kurram district in a gunfight with militants, the
military`s media wing said in a statement.

30 Reviving a decision taken by the government of his PML-N in 2017,

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued directives calling for initiating
the process of outsourcing the management of three major airports
in the country.

31 A fresh round of litigation got underway over the contentious local

government elections, the day when the exercise was to be held in
the federal capital according to a verdict announced by the
Islamabad High Court (IHC).

7
 CSS | CHRONICLES VOLUME 3 EDITION 7

NATIONAL

8
STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONS
OF PAKISTAN
SANIA SALEEM
Pakistan has been one of the
top 10 economic performers
among developing coun-
tries in the first forty years of
its existence. Considering
the nation-building during
the tumultuous periods of
high economic and political
instability, Pakistan’s record
progress in its first four
decades has been com-
mendable. Since 1990, nev-
ertheless, the country has
fallen behind its neighboring
countries and has seen a
decline in the growth rate
from 6.5 percent to 4.5 per-
cent. Without getting into
the nitty gritty reasons for
the downfall, the author
would like to fast forward to
the contemporary era,
where a solution to the
problem must be highlight-
ed.
To improve its growth pros-
pects, Pakistan must focus
on remodeling its gover-
nance standing, otherwise,
progress by leaps and
bounds would just remain a
dream far from reality.
Evidently, there is a positive
nexus between good gover-
nance and economic
growth.to achieve rapid
institutional transformation,
for instance, Pakistan would
have to overcome a few
hindrances. Lawmakers and
politicians would have to
deal with the large govern-
ment workforce, including
much unqualified staff in
lower cadres. Additionally,
Pakistan needs a substan-
tial effort to improve reve-
nue collection, especially by
enforcing a strong tax
policy, in order to be able to
expand the state’s ability to
finance its agendas. All in all,
significant reforms would
have to be undertaken to
improve institutional quality,
strengthen the business
environment and improve
accountability hence creat-
ing an environment where
9
CSS Chronicles
Rule of law prevails over any
bias. All three pillars of the
state, Executive, Legislature,
and Judiciary, must be on
the same page so that each
of the three institutions can
work together to build a
better nation- a nation
Allama Iqbal dreamt of.
Pakistan must implement
the devolution of power to
the local level in its true
sense as provided by the
18th Amendment. The devo-
lution plan is half fulfilled as
only power is devolved from
the Federation to Provinces
and not from Provinces to
the Local level. Empowering
local institutions is very cru-
cial in order to carry out
administrative functions
and for service delivery at
the grass root level. Addi-
tionally, the quality of insti-
tutional performance must
be improved to support the
government’s plan and to
improve efficiency. Mer-
it-based recruitment of
skilled persons is required to
retain high-caliber candi-
dates into the civil service.
Strengthening the technical
aptitudes of public adminis-
tration through digital mod-
ernization and technological
diffusion is necessary for
improving the quality of ser-
vice delivery and turning the
public segment into a
growth driver.
Furthermore, Tax evasion
and tax avoidance must be
stopped in order to curb the
issues regarding tax collec-
tion. Additionally, Inefficient
subsidies provided to indus-
trial players must come to
an end. When elites influ-
ence public policy choices,
outcomes are only for the
industrialists, resultantly,
common people have to
pay the price.
To make a state democrati-
cally governable in its true
sense, institutions of demo-
cratic governance must be
rebuilt to establish the writ of
the state, and an institution
that eliminates non-state
actors engaged in criminal
and militant activities, that
deliver basic goods and ser-
vices, including justice, to
the majority of the popula-
tion in a fair and justiciable
manner.
A long-term roadmap to
achieve an improved and
enduring system of demo-
cratic governance would
have to contain certain
essential ingredients.
First, the 18th Amendment to
the Constitution and the 7th
National Finance Commis-
sion has very precisely
decentralized administra-
tive, legal, and financial
powers and authority from
the federal to the provincial
governments. Nevertheless,
this devolution remains
incomplete as explained
earlier. The provinces have
not yet transferred powers
and resources further down
Volume 3 | Edition 7
to local governments,
whereby most of the inter-
face between an ordinary
citizen and the government
takes place. Since 2008, the
authorities of local govern-
ments have been assumed
by provincial governments.
With the exception of the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
administration, provincial
governments enjoy tremen-
dous power under newly
enacted laws, making elect-
ed local governments sub-
missive to them. This differ-
ence between the will of
provincial governments to
centralize power in their own
hands and the aspirations of
the citizens to access basic
public services at their
doorsteps needs to be
resolved in order to imple-
ment a model of good gov-
ernance since the govern-
ment is supposed to serve
people before and above
any ulterior motive. Hence-
forth, without complete
decentralization of power,
attempts to strengthen
democratic governance are
bound to fail.
Second, the administrative
machinery of civil services
as a whole is broken down.
Reforms in the police,
administrative services, land
management, judiciary, and
the delivery of social ser-
vices must be undertaken to
set the country in the right
direction. Civil servants must
remain neutral and objec-
tive, which used to be their
10
CSS Chronicles
hallmark, has to be rebuilt
and their morale and moti-
vation restored so that they
are able to deliver once
again assuming their lost
space in the country’s gov-
ernance structure and pro-
cesses. Institutions that pro-
mote skills development,
higher education, scientific
studies, and technology
transfer must be brought
into the front row in order to
produce a more skilled
workforce.
Third, the dispensation of
justice in Pakistan is
extremely time-consuming,
expensive, and intricate. A
backlog of millions of cases
pending in the lower courts
has taken away the deter-
rent effect of punishment for
violators of laws. The maxim,
“Justice delayed is Justice
denied” is prevailing among
the public causing trust
deficiency between people
and the state.
Fourth, the federal govern-
ment’s Freedom of Informa-
tion Act is dysfunctional as is
not been proven to facilitate
the flow of information into
public hands. For instance,
The Right to Information Act
in India has played a key
role in keeping public ser-
vants and political leaders
accountable to the masses,
as their actions and deeds
could become the object of
public knowledge ultimately
leading to political ostra-
cization. Civil society organi-
zations and the media in
India have also played a
crucial role in accessing
information and data under
the Act. Similarly, effective
legislation in Pakistan must
be implemented in order to
keep a strong check and
balance mechanism where
no one is above law.
Fifth, Parliament is supposed
to provide checks and bal-
ances to counteract the
overindulgences of the
executive branch of govern-
ment. However, this is hardly
the case in Pakistan. There is
almost negligible legislative
accountability to citizens,
frail market oversight, and
insignificance in respon-
siveness to citizen demands.
Strengthening the parlia-
mentary committees would
help place effective controls
over the misuse of power
and resources by the execu-
tive branch.
Last, management practic-
es in the government must
be digitalized and over-
hauled. The rules of business
must be rewritten in order to
assign clear responsibilities
to ministries, giving them
the requisite power and
resources to fulfill their obli-
gations with a mechanism
holding them accountable
for results. The introduction
of E-government tools
would also help ensure
transparency and the expe-
ditious pursuit of business
and coordination efforts.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
To conclude, the role of each
pillar of the state is very cru-
cial in order to strengthen
the system of governance
and to overcome the lacu-
nae vis-à-vis the institutions
of Pakistan. Fixing these
problems will, undoubtedly,
be a problematic and grim
task. All these challenges
require balancing the long-
ing for political stability
while also increasing
accountability. Political will
and desire to achieve the
outcome are very important
as achieving these results
without a political will is next
to impossible. On March 25,
1948, Quaid-i-Azam Mu-
hammad Ali Jinnah advised
the public officials to, “Main-
tain highest standards of
honor, integrity, justice, and
fair play”, and single-hand-
edly this act of the founder
of Pakistan raised the bar for
the quality of public service
and public sector gover-
nance in Pakistan. That sev-
en-decade-old message
and the country’s resilient
spirit are still relevant and
must now drive Pakistan’s
vision toward the status of
an upper middle-income
country.
11
Rs. 1100 Rs 990 Rs. 900 Rs 800
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STABILITY
GO HAND IN HAND
QAISER RIZWAN ABBASI
It is rightly asserted that
political and economic sta-
bility go hand in hand. If a
country is facing deep-root-
ed and well-entrenched
cracks in its political system,
it cannot ensure progress,
reforms, and prosperity with
a robust economy. This is
what we see in Pakistan.
Since its inception, Pakistan
has not been able to
achieve political stability
owing to a wide range of
factors: the extra-constitu-
tional role of the military
establishment, judicial
activism, disunity between
the political forces, early
demise of the founder
Jinnah, multi-ethnic societal
structure and so on.
Over the years, democratic
projects have repeatedly
been rollbacked on the part
of the non-democratic
forces bolstered by foreign
powers which have
frequently led to the imposi-
tion of martial laws and dic-
tatorship. Unfortunately, this
has battered economic
progress and economic
development needed to
carve out the path toward
inclusive and sustainable
growth in the country in a
highly effective way.
Meanwhile, ‘elitism’ and
vested interests of the
all-time powerful elite that
controls policy, economy,
and society which has been
hindering the evolution of
democracy and limiting the
economic progress which
could have been achieved
had there been political sta-
bility. Still, it is usually noted
that 1 percent of the popula-
tion consisting of the elite
today controls the econom-
ic and political power in
Pakistan, recently highlight-
ed by former finance Minis-
ter Miftah Ismail in his
Op-ed.
12
CSS Chronicles
Along with this, what is con-
sidered the number one
threat and challenge facing
Pakistan today is the preva-
lent deep polarisation
among the political forces in
particular and in society in
general. The never-ending
conflicts, fights, and verbal
accusations between the
treasury benches and the
opposition have not only
impeded the smooth work-
ing in the parliament but
also resulted in unnecessary
delays in the crafting of the
laws, rules, and reforms, and
most importantly, economic
policies that are required to
put the country on the right
path where people would be
able to secure much-need-
ed job opportunities, get
public goods, seek educa-
tion and health facilities
among others.
It is an unfortunate reality in
this country that the institu-
tional imbalance between
the institutions of gover-
nance has severely affected
the normal course of busi-
ness affairs where policy-
making is influenced by the
powerful lobbies, decisions
are made without taking
input from the parlia-
ment—the supreme body
representing the mass-
es—and policies are not
made in view of problems
and challenges by the gen-
eral public at large.
Since there has been a lack
of consensus building
between the political forces
or more specifically, govern-
ment and the opposition, it
has become increasingly
difficult to join hands for the
betterment of the economic
outlook of the country by
framing effective and
long-lasting economic poli-
cies that would be able to
ensure progress and pros-
perity in the shape of higher
tax collection, increase in
expenditure on develop-
mental activities, better pro-
vision of basic public ser-
vices i.e. education, health
and law and order and
above all, water and sanita-
tion.
Considering the dismal
affairs of the state of Paki-
stan, it is important to get
away with the widening
polarisation in the polity and
society by unifying diverse
political forces to put efforts
into addressing bourgeon-
ing debts, twin deficits—fis-
cal deficit and current
account deficit, creating job
employments, attracting
foreign direct investment,
improving manufacturing
and agriculture output and
others.
Certainly, it is not an easy
task. The incumbent powers
would need to collaborate
with the political forces,
technocrats, private sector,
donor agencies, and inter-
national financial lending
institutions in an attempt to
navigate the choppy waters.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
In addition to this, the gov-
ernment of the day must
use the political platforms
i.e. parliamentary commit-
tees, parliament, the Council
of Common Interests, the
National Security Commit-
tee, and the National Eco-
nomic Council. These politi-
cal instruments have the
potential to play a vital role
in ensuring coordination
between the federating
units which in turn, develop
those economic policies
that are instrumental for the
economic future of the
country.
Last but not the least, politi-
cal stability is a prerequisite
for economic stability and
prosperity. The prevalent
political instability has been
fueling economic crisis and
resulting in the lose of inves-
tors’ confidence in the econ-
omy of Pakistan. Timely
elections may help to ease
down political crisis grap-
pling this country.
13
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN:
A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Abdul Samad
The Holy Quran puts respon-
sibility on each soul for what
it does here in this world.
Treating woman mildly is
one of the core teachings of
Islam. This is a universally
accepted fact that women
should have the same fun-
damental rights as those
men. They need to be treat-
ed in a genteel way. Con-
trary to this, they come
across severe and inhu-
mane treatment perpetrat-
ed by their male counter-
parts. The pleasant picture
of a woman inside a home is
tarnished by the cruelty of
the male section or even
other women in her house.
Such a long-lasting cycle of
domestic violence exists for
a long time to operate. Paki-
stani houses present a vivid
picture in this regard.
Domestic violence can
easily be decoded as the
violence perpetrated on a
woman in her domestic life.
This might be in a plethora
of forms: physical, psycho-
logical, financial and emo-
tional, etc.
Physical violence starts with
beating, hitting, or slapping
a woman. She might be
seen thrown onto a burning
stove. She faces
acid-throwing too. She is
also tortured with a stick
and thrown down the floor.
Sometimes she is dashed
against the wall. All these
forms of physical violence
are triggered largely by
some key structural reasons.
The cycle of violence theory
explains this as the man
gets overwhelmed by many
things, thus he just wants to
relieve himself of the
mounting pressure. There-
fore, he does so by perpe-
trating violence on his
female counterpart. Soon
after, he starts realizing his
mistake and embarks on
14
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

showing himself guilty and

starts repairing the damage
and finally succeeds in
restoring the pre-violence
mode of his female counter-
part. The theory elucidates
that a man traps his female
partner via his artificial
sweetness which is going to
be lost soon when he feels
pressurized. Thus, the cycle
of violence continues.

Economically or financially,
the woman is tortured or
brought under violence in a
way to make her dependent
on a man for meeting her as
well as her children's needs.
She is made subjugated to
her male counterpart for
getting some money. When-
ever she seems to be at log-
gerheads with her husband
over the custody of their
children, only if they are
divorced, she has a mount-
ing problem ahead of how
to cater to her children's
needs.

The Learned Helplessness

theory unveils this scenario
pretty well where violence in
a domestic arena is born
only to ensure the fulfillment
of basic needs. It means
that women go through all
the episodes of domestic
violence just because they
are helpless and dependent
on their male counterparts.
The Radical feminists con-
sider this to be the brain-
child of the patriarchal soci-
ety. The Marxist feminists
view this to be engendered
by capitalism which wants women to breed and serve the
male workers working in factories whereas women are just
supposed to be good housewives—unpaid labor.
Women are subjected to emotional violence in their houses.
They are blackmailed for doing something which they would
damn like to do. They are threatened with being divorced or
left alone and helpless if they refuse to obey the masculinity
of their counterparts. Since they are mostly paralyzed in the
financial and economic arena, they can hardly stand for
their rights against their male counterparts. Similarly,

15
 aghazetaleem.com

CSS PMS Books At discounted prices 0332-5339708 whatsApp for order

CSS Chronicles
women are largely hood-
winked by bringing them
under false and baseless
promises to which most of
them easily fall under their
innocence and ignorance.
Man does so because he
wants himself to be the sole
and unchallenged authority
as propagated by the Power
and Control Wheel theory.
The status of gender-based
domestic violence in Paki-
stan is pretty much pathetic.
According to the Human
Rights Commission report,
women face domestic
violence in several ways.
Women are usually thrown
onto the stove or made sub-
ject to acid attacks for some
petty issues like dowry
among others. They are
usually subjected to physi-
cal violence. Honor killing is
a bad addition to the long
list of violence perpetrated
on women in the domestic
arena. Some of the eminent
forms of physical violence
committed in the domestic
arena range from scratch-
ing, grabbing, shaking, slap-
ping, twisting, and punching
to even the use of weapons.
The lack of education and
proper awareness have kept
women from getting their
rights and standing for
them. This makes them able
to blindly follow what is
asked for.
This is triggered in Pakistan
largely by the poor plight of
women's rights. The popular
slogan of women empower-
ment has yet to ensure as
Pakistan ranked second
(worst) last from the bottom
in Global Gender Gap Report
2022, by World Economic
Forum. This is so because
poor women participate in
education and economic
fields. Moreover, they are still
living in problematic health
infrastructure. Thus, unless
and until there is a proper
mechanism for ensuring
complete women's partici-
pation, the menace of
domestic violence can
hardly be wiped out.
Apart from this, the patriar-
chal nature of our society
Volume 3 | Edition 7
instigates a man to behave
like a real superior. This very
sense of superiority leads to
the subjugation of women.
Often times they are
brought under a number of
forms of violence just
because of the detested
desire of man to show him-
self a ‘man’. In fact, he is a
man only if he can subju-
gate women properly. Such
a patriarchal concept pre-
vents women from getting
empowered and enables
them to accept the superi-
ority of men and kowtow to
all forms of violence perpet-
uated on them.
The aforementioned struc-
tural theories also contrib-
ute to the proper functioning
of the domestic violence
wheel. The psychopathic
theory of violence shows the
psychological disorder only
for women and the inten-
tional lust of the perpetrator
to unleash violence first and
then make sure to patch it
16
CSS Chronicles
up and then embark on
violence and then repara-
tion and thus the cycle goes
on.
Pakistani society is a patri-
archal society and almost a
joint family system. A child(
both boy and girl) brings up
with all happening around
him or her. Thus, family life
and environment do not
leave them unaffected. The
Learned Behavior Theory
propagates this very stance
that a man embarks on per-
petuating violence on his
family female section just
because of what he has
seen, observed, and experi-
enced over his past life in his
family. Similarly, the girls are
made meek, mild, and gen-
teel and the ones who are
supposed and even expect-
ed to obey their male coun-
terparts without even an
iota of doubt. This unques-
tioned obedience is accept-
able only if it is not in contra-
diction to the efforts taken
towards the fulfillment of the
basic fundamental rights of
women. Thus, the family
environment, especially a
patriarchal one, massively
affects the attitude and
behavior of both men and
women which in turn plays a
key role in determining their
future roles towards each
other.
Though the whole bed of
gender plight in Pakistan is
not free from thorns, the
curse of domestic violence
takes the main seat and
Volume 3 | Edition 7
holds immense attention In a nutshell, women are not
whenever there is a discus- free from gender inequality
sion about gender and even and gender-based impari-
women's issues. From the ties even in their houses.
works of the Aurat Founda- They are often mistreated
tion to woman's Day and and even brought under
from the first wave of femi- different forms of violence
nism to the third and fourth as mentioned above, which
wave, all have been high- are triggered by multiple
lighting the core issues of reasons. The lack of educa-
women in particular and tion, socio-economic em-
gender in general. The powerment, and the delete-
aforementioned plight of rious fabric of patriarchy
domestic violence in Paki- have paved the way for
stan unveils its seriousness domestic violence. Pakistan
and demands to be set needs to revamp and
aside. Pakistan needs to reform this sector structur-
regularize properly the solu- ally and uproot all the struc-
tion to this menace. The tural and deep-seated
different legislative mea- causes of the perpetual
sures regarding the eradi- domestic violence. Only
cation of the curse of then, Pakistan will properly
domestic violence and the benefit from half of the
provision of women's pro- country’s population.
tection need proper imple-
mentation. The judiciary
must be active in this case
thereby barring the perpe-
tration of domestic violence
via mending judicial walls.
The executive and adminis-
tration must ensure the pro-
vision of education and
ensure women's participa-
tion in the economic field.
The issue of women's health
exacerbates their poor
status in the domestic
arena. The patriarchal saga
can largely be turned down
by spreading public aware-
ness and education. The role
of the mosque and religious
scholars is deemed to be
the key to undoing the
scourge of domestic
violence.
17
WHAT DOES ECONOMIC DEFAULT
MEAN FOR PAKISTAN?
Hamza Tanvir
Pakistan was once called
the South Asian tiger but
now the economic plight of
the country is totally in
shambles. This has been
due to multiple factors but
political instability and lack
of good governance are
among the top factors con-
tributing to this predica-
ment. The expected default
of the country can have sev-
eral implications for the sur-
vival and sovereignty of
Pakistan.
Multiple factors contribute
to the economic default in a
country. This is arduous to
determine what exactly
causes this default. For
instance, Sovereign default
occurs when a country fails
to meet its foreign debt obli-
gations. A country can face
sovereign default owning to
political instability, econom-
ic stagnation, or financial
mismanagement. Accord-
ing to Moody, chronic stag-
nation was the primary
cause of sovereign debt
defaults by Russia and
Ukraine in 1998, Argentina in
2001, and Venezuela in 2017.
As far as Pakistan is con-
cerned it is defined by the
credit ratings agencies that
the country will face default
if it fails to comply with con-
tracts on debt obligations.
The consequences will be
devastating. This nightmar-
ish chaos will first affect the
financial sector there is likely
to be a steep devaluation of
the rupee and a stock
market crash. It will have
cascading effects just as
happened in Sri Lanka. Paki-
stan is already facing a
severe financial crunch all
the time. The subsequent
consequences have already
started showing up in terms
of massive immigration and
bourgeoning unemploy-
ment in the country.
18
CSS Chronicles
According to a report, Paki-
stan's brain drain situation
has aggravated. Almost
7,60,000 youth has left the
country in 2022 in search of
better job opportunities to
improve living standards.
The impact of the default is
likely to ripple the wider
economy throughout. This
means importers and
exporters will likely not get
trade credit which would
cause a shortage of crucial
consumables and industrial
inputs. This will further lead
to the demand and supply
gap, owing to increased
unemployment, demand
will decrease and more
people will lose their jobs. A
cash-strapped country with
an increased unemploy-
ment rate and the lowest
Human Development Index
will give birth to many crimi-
nals. Devastating conditions
for survival will compel
many people to be indulged
in numerous crimes.
Increasing street crimes in
the country are a great sub-
stantiation for this. This
would tear the overall fabric
of the country. Extremism
would rise in the country. On
a broader level, the such
country has to face many
misfortunes. Foreign direct
investment has already
declined due to internal
political instability in Paki-
stan. This indicates that
foreign companies have lost
their trust and are not willing
to invest more in such coun-
tries which have volatile
economic conditions. Paki-
stan's foreign direct invest-
ment for 2020 was $2.06B, a
7.92% decline from 2019.
After 2019 this investment
has further decreased due
to the country’s political
crises. Inflation peaked in
October 2022 which is 26.6%
greater than all time. It has
caused malnutrition and
lowered living standards
which have created many
health problems. The coun-
try which barely survived on
resources during the pan-
demic was hit by another
blow due to political insta-
bility. Pakistan was also in
ruins due to climate
catastrophe. The 2022 flood
which has cost the assess-
ment estimates total dam-
ages to exceed USD 14.9
billion and total economic
losses to reach about USD
15.2 billion damaged the
already stagnant economic
growth of Pakistan. This eco-
nomic instability could have
damaging impacts on the
survival and sovereignty of
the country. Pakistan is
already facing separatist
movements in its south-
western province, Baluch-
istan. India and its rival Paki-
stan can use this economic
predicament of the country
as an opportunity to provide
impetus to such separatist
and extremist movements.
The economic default of the
country would also make it
vulnerable to terrorist and
Volume 3 | Edition 7
extremist groups. Groups
like Tehreek e Taliban Paki-
stan (TTP), Al-Qaida, and
ISIS can use this economic
instability for their benefit.
They could exploit the poor
of the country as they did in
the past. Furthermore, Paki-
stan would also have to face
difficulty to fight its other
traditional and non-tradi-
tional security threats. A
strong economy is key to
countering all sorts of
threats. A country needs
economic resources to
counter all sorts of threats. It
needs finances to buy
weapons to counter tradi-
tional rivals. On the other
hand, it also needs money to
counter issues related to
threats like natural calami-
ties. If Pakistan fails to adopt
prudent measures to stabi-
lize its economy timely, it
would have to pay a heavy
price. Pakistan would have
to face survival threats. India
and other rivals of Pakistan
would not leave any stone
unturned to harm the coun-
try. Pakistan’s mainstream
leadership must revisit their
priorities and should formu-
late some economic con-
sensus that would ensure
the economic stability of the
country. Pakistan’s political
leadership would have to
ensure good governance
and political stability in the
country to avoid economic
default.
19
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INTERNATIONAL

21
MODI-FICATION OF INDIA HAS
TARNISHED ITS SECULAR OUTLOOK
Nayab Noor
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi presents himself as an
ascetic economic visionary.
He is also a hero of
anti-Muslim bigots. – Dexter
Filkins (The New Yorker)
India is not secular by any
definition of secularism –
Amartya Sen
Nominally, India remains a
secular state and a multi-
faith democracy. Religious
minorities account for
roughly 20 percent of the
country’s 1.4 billion people,
who include about 200 mil-
lion Muslims and 28 million
Christians. But beneath the
country’s ostensible inclu-
sivity runs an undercurrent
of Hindu nationalism that
has gained strength during
the eight-year rule of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Experts say anti-Muslim
sentiments have height-
ened under the leadership
of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and the ruling Bharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP), which
has pursued a Hindu nation-
alist agenda since elected
to power in 2014. Since
Modi’s reelection in 2019, the
government has pushed
controversial policies that
critics say explicitly ignore
Muslims’ rights and are
intended to disenfranchise
millions of Muslims. Under
Modi, violence against Mus-
lims has become more
common. The moves have
sparked protests in India
and drawn international
condemnation. The concern
shared by many among the
country’s religious minori-
ties, as well as by more sec-
ular-minded liberals within
the Hindu majority, is that
the country’s secular and
inclusive ethos is already
beyond repair. Modi has
been recasting the story of
India, from that of a secular
democracy accommodat-
ing a uniquely diverse popu-
lation to that of a Hindu
22
CSS Chronicles
nation that dominates its
minorities, especially the
country’s two hundred mil-
lion Muslims. Modi and his
allies have squeezed, bul-
lied, and smothered the
press into endorsing what
they call the “New India.”
Modi – The Butcher of
Gujarat?
Narendra Modi’s history
shows that he is a life-long
member of Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),
a paramilitary Hindu Nation-
alist Organization founded
in 1927 and inspired by the
fascist movement of Europe.
Adolf Hitler was their great-
est hero. Just as the Fascists
of Germany took great pride
in their racial superiority and
purged their country of the
Jewish minority, the same
way the RSS have faith in
their Hindu superiority and
believe that all entities other
than Hindus are interlopers
who should be gradually
eliminated from Indian soil.
In 2002 when Modi was Chief
Minister of Gujrat, a train
carrying pilgrims was
returning back after the
destruction of the Babri
Mosque in Ayodhya when it
caught fire, as a result of
which 57 persons were burnt
alive. In retaliation, under
orders of Modi as CM, the
Hindu mobs of Gujrat ran
amok and massacred 2000
Muslims, raped their women
and displaced thousands
from their houses. The police
were ordered not to interfere
and let the Hindus mob and
ransack Muslim property. At
such a gruesome occur-
rence, Modi never felt sorry
and arrogantly remarked
that, ‘To every action, there
is reaction,’ and justified all
atrocities committed
against Muslims.
The Citizenship
Amendment Act – 2019
On December 11, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi’s Hin-
du-nationalist government
had passed its Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA),
which gave immigrants
from three neighboring
countries (Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh) a
path to citizenship on one
condition: that they were not
Muslim. For the first time in
India’s long history of secu-
larism, a religious test had
been enacted. It was a bad
law because it failed to treat
all minorities equally and
fairly. It was a clear attempt
to declare Muslims as sec-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
ond-class citizens. This
policy was not only con-
demned by its own citizens,
but also by the political
circles of the world at large.
Here Muslims were discrimi-
nated against among all the
rest of the nations of the
world. This manifested the
hidden motives of Modi to
make the lives of the Mus-
lims miserable in India and
also to stop their future entry
in that country, so that they
may become extinct one
day. It may be remarkable
that a country that is home
to the largest Muslim popu-
lation outside of Muslim-
majority countries (nearly
220 million and 14.45% of
India’s total population)
breaks the basic foundation
of India as a secular state.
NRC and ASSAM
At the same time, the BJP
promised in its 2019 election
manifesto to complete a
National Register of Citizens
(NRC). The NRC was created
in the 1950s for the unique
23
CSS Chronicles
case of the state of Assam
to determine whether resi-
dents were Indian citizens or
migrants from what is now
neighboring Bangladesh. In
2019, the Assam govern-
ment updated its register,
which excluded nearly two
million people. If imple-
mented nationwide, all Indi-
ans would be required to
prove their citizenship. Crit-
ics say this process could
render many Muslims state-
less because they lack nec-
essary documents and are
not eligible for fast-tracked
citizenship under the Citi-
zenship Amendment Act.
The Issue of Kashmir
Modi has meanwhile dimin-
ished the political standing
of what was India’s only
Muslim-majority state:
Jammu and Kashmir. In
August 2019, the govern-
ment split the state, which
lies in the mountainous
border region in dispute with
Pakistan, into two territories
and stripped away its spe-
cial constitutional autono-
my by revoking Article 370.
Since then, Indian authori-
ties have cracked down on
the rights of people in the
region, oftentimes under the
guise of maintaining securi-
ty. They shut down the inter-
net eighty-five times in 2021,
harassed and arrested jour-
nalists, and detained promi-
nent political figures and
activists. Dozens of civilians
have been killed by armed
groups since the division,
despite government claims
Volume 3 | Edition 7
that the security situation passed in an effort to pre-
had improved. vent love jihad.
Recent Anti-Muslim Mobs Protest over Islamophobic
Hindu mob attacks have Rhetoric
become so common in In May, two BJP officials
recent years that India’s made profane comments
Supreme Court warned that about Prophet Mohammed,
they could become the “new leading to deadly protests
normal.” One of the most across India and condem-
common forms of anti-Mus- nation from Muslim-majori-
lim violence is vigilante ty countries. The BJP sus-
groups attacking people pended the officials. The
rumored to trade or kill following month, two Muslim
cows, which many Hindus men killed a Hindu man who
believe are sacred. At least supported one of the BJP
forty-four people, most of officials in an attack they
them Muslims, have been filmed and shared online.
killed by these so-called
cow protection groups,
according to a 2019 Human
Rights Watch report. Muslim
men have also been
attacked after being
accused of “love jihad,” a
term used by Hindu groups
to describe Muslim men
allegedly trying to seduce
and marry Hindu women to
convert them. Hundreds of
Muslim men have been
arrested for violating
anti-conversion laws that
several BJP-led states
24
CSS Chronicles
Critics say that BJP officials
have ignored recent
violence against Muslims.
“During Modi’s first five-year
term, there were continuous
attacks on Muslim individu-
als, which kind of made the
community feel under
siege,” says Ghazala Jamil,
an assistant professor at
Jawaharlal Nehru University
in New Delhi. “The idea was
that if you were a Muslim,
you were liable to be
attacked anywhere, any-
time.” Hate speech and mis-
information spread online
have also encouraged
violence against Muslims.
How is the world
responding to the rising
discrimination in India?
Many foreign governments
and international bodies
have condemned the BJP’s
discrimination of Muslims,
citing actions in Kashmir, the
Citizenship Amendment Act,
and anti-Muslim rhetoric as
particular concerns.
The UN human rights office
described the Citizenship
Amendment Act as “funda-
mentally discriminatory.”
Iran, Kuwait, and Qatar were
among the Muslim-majority
countries that lodged formal
complaints against India in
2022 over public officials’
Islamophobic remarks. The
Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC), a group
of fifty-seven member
states, called on India to
curb the “growing spate of
Volume 3 | Edition 7
hatred and defamation of secular ideal of India which
Islam” and “systematic is presently the basis of its
practices against Indian honor and respect in the
Muslims.” world community. This
image can only subsist if
Successive U.S. administra- Modi stopped floundering
tions have been reluctant to with this Hindutva ideology
publicly call out India’s whose continuous assertion
abuses as they have boost- would certainly kill its
ed ties with the country. For age-old ideology of Secu-
example, when President larism, converting it into a
Donald Trump visited India theocratic state.
in February 2020, he praised
Modi’s commitment to reli-
gious freedom and said
nothing about the outbreak
of violence in Delhi. The Joe
Biden administration has
reportedly voiced concerns
in private, while expanding
cooperation with India
including through the
so-called Quad. Meanwhile,
in its 2020 report [PDF], the
U.S. Commission on Interna-
tional Religious Freedom, an
independent government
agency, classified India as a
“country of particular con-
cern”—its lowest rating—for
the first time since 2004.
Conclusion
Hinduism is the name given
to the most ancient and
persistent religion on the
Indian subcontinent, and
Hindutva is the name by
which the ideology of the
Hindu right, represented by
the political party Bhartiya
Janata Party, or Indian Peo-
ple’s Party (BJP), is known.
Most of the intellectuals of
India have abhorred the
idea of “Hindutva” which is
likely to put an end to the
25
CHINA’S XI VISITS KSA: WILL IT INCREASE
CHINA’S INFLUENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
Umme Abeeha
Introduction
Chinese President Xi Jinping
visited Saudi Arabia from 7
to 10 December. If this is
compared with how US
President Joe Biden was
received in July, one can
notice a subtle shift in KSA’s
foreign policy. This rekindled
the debate of how a geopo-
litical reset seems to be
coming in the Middle East.
Therefore, it is pertinent to
discuss Sino-Saudi relations
and will China’s influence in
the Middle East take over the
US hegemony in the Middle
East.
The growing Chinese and
Saudi Arab relations also
signal a potential shift in the
global order as US-Saudi
Arab relations continue to
deteriorate. However, many
experts believe that China
does not want to challenge
the status quo yet. Rather, it
wants to invest in this status
quo and take advantage of
the situation.
Sino-Saudi Relations
Saudi Arabia recognized
China as an independent
state only in 1990. However,
their bilateral relations have
expanded quite quickly.
China is Saudi Arabia’s top
oil customer, and both sides
are keen to expand their
relationship at a time of
economic turmoil and geo-
political realignment.
The trip was Xi’s third over-
seas since the coronavirus
pandemic began. It comes
after US President Joe
Biden’s visit in July when he
pleaded in vain for higher oil
production.
KSA and China have over-
lapping interests. For exam-
ple, China gets 18% of its oil
from the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Both states had a
bilateral trade worth $80
Billion in 2021. Furthermore,
26
CSS Chronicles
KSA’s role in global Islam
makes it a good partner of
the Chinese govt that is
facing issues with Muslims in
China. Other geostrategic
advantages for China are
also related to the energy
sector. If China can exert
more influence on the Gulf
Cooperation Council’s
energy sector, it will be able
to counter the US hegemony
and influence in the Middle
East.
China’s other interests in the
Middle East include improv-
ing cooperation between
China and GCC in the eco-
nomic, technological, and
diplomatic spheres. China
needs to stabilize itself geo-
strategic ally and the Middle
East is important for that.
The Middle East is one of the
few regions where the inter-
ests of China and the United
States converge.
Furthermore, it seems that
China is not interested in
challenging the status quo
at the moment. Instead,
China wants to invest in it.
Saudi Arabia is frustrated by
US’s gradual disengage-
ment from the Middle East-
ern region. This has also
resulted in a decrease in its
security guarantees. Thus,
for KSA, China is a potential
alternative. It has been a
major trade partner and
long-term energy customer.
KSA also sees China as a
strategic partner because of
Volume 3 | Edition 7
its permanent position at
the UNSC.
Apart from that, KSA wants
to diversify its economic
range. For this, it needs
money. China also gives
importance to take the Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI) and
Saudi Vision 2030 together.
So, both countries have
strategic relations and Xi’s
visit to KSA is more than a
reaction to the perceived US
missteps.
What does Xi’s Visit to
Saudi Arabia mean for the
Middle East?
During this trip, Chinese and
Saudi companies signed 34
agreements during this
time. The Chinese President
27
CSS Chronicles
visited KSA to ensure its
energy security as the
global oil and gas prices are
fluctuating due to the Rus-
sian invasion of Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia and China also
talked about prioritizing their
bilateral relations based on
cooperation. Both sides em-
phasized that they would
continue to support each
other’s core interests and
defend the principle of
non-interference. A traditionally
high-level Saudi Chinese
joint committee would over-
look common goals and
facilitate communication
between the government
and private sectors of both
countries. China and KSA
have signed several MOUs
including defense, counter-
terrorism, investment,
renewable and civil nuclear
energy, investment, IT, infra-
structure, and green energy.
China is encroaching upon
what was earlier solely
USA’s turf.
But the fact that China
wants stronger ties with the
entire Arab world is an
example of Chinese eco-
nomic and political asser-
tiveness. Also, one thing is
for sure: China succeeded in
sending a message about
how it can establish rela-
tions in regions that were
under the
heavy influence of the
United States and its west-
ern allies. The Chinese strat-
egy in the region has been
to show that it is a more reli-
able partner than the USA.
China has never been
directly confrontational to
get this message across.
So, President Xi’s visit to KSA
will have far-reaching
geo-political implications
Volume 3 | Edition 7
as he engaged a large part
of the Middle East quite
meaningfully.
Conclusion
China has become an eco-
nomic powerhouse in the
Middle Eastern region as it
has strengthened trade and
protected its investments.
Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia
showed that both countries
are aligned on most policies
and they have big plans for
security and oil. The Chi-
nese presence in the region
will likely remain strong in
the future as well.
If the US wants to maintain
its influence in the region, it
must pay closer attention to
China. With the Chinese
solutions, the region is
coming under the influence
of China.
28
UNCERTAIN GEOPOLITICS IN 2023
Bakhtawar Narejo
The global landscape is
continually changing. The
breadth of opportunities
and risks that businesses,
industries, nations, and
regional groups confront
are impacted by trends
including the expansion of
developing market econo-
mies, globalization, and the
rise of populism. Regulating
changes, impeded trade,
and even conflict can have
an effect on them. Geo-
graphical variables are cru-
cial in determining how a
nation will approach nation-
al security and how much
cooperation it will choose.
Landlocked nations heavily
rely on their neighbors to
provide access to essential
resources. Countries with
strong commercial ties or
those serving as hubs for
trade may wield their geo-
graphic position as a
weapon. In general, stable
internal and foreign political
forces are influenced by
robust institutions. They are
given more leeway to act in
nations with sound institu-
tions, such as those that
support the rule of law, gov-
ernment accountability, and
property rights.
The year 2023 is getting off
to an unsteady, uncertain,
and unpredictable start.
Most predictions are pessi-
mistic, especially those
related to the economy,
which in turn affects many
other social and geopolitical
factors, including unem-
ployment, political chaos,
inflation, and rising prices
amid food and energy scar-
cities, aggravating interna-
tional and domestic political
relations.
Global Economics
The global economy and
financial markets have been
significantly influenced by
geopolitics over the past
year. Rising food costs and
an energy crisis have been
brought on by the conflict
between the West and
Russia over Ukraine. Interna-
tional trade has changed
according to political align-
29
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

ments, signaling the emer-
gence of a multipolar world
far from normalization. A
new economic reality has
emerged as a result, one in
which inflation has
increased and monetary
policy is prioritized over eco-
nomic growth. As a result,
the global economy is
weakening and interest
rates are at their highest
level in years.
International Security
The use of nuclear weapons
is a real and present threat
to security, and its likelihood
has increased as the
Ukraine war has become
more global and multifacet-
ed. Relations between the US
and China are already
tense, and they are quickly
resembling a cold war.
Nations, institutions, and
individuals are taking notice
and calling for an interna-
tional action plan as a result
of the sudden and traumat-
ic nature of natural
catastrophes and the
severe effects of climate
change. It's interesting to
note that strange occur-
rences like alien visits and
asteroids colliding with Earth
are included. The Ukraine

The likelihood of a worldwide

recession is strong. Strange-
ly, as high-end and disrup-
tive technology develops
and transforms, a race for
better civil-military fusion
develops around the world.
China has mastered this,
while India has a long way to
go. Examples include AI,
robotics, big data encryp-
tion, hypersonics, automa-
tion, anti-satellite systems,
and the space domain.

COVID-19
A substantially slower aver-
age rate of global economic
development than during
the 2010–2019 period is pre-
dicted as a result of disrup-
tions brought on by the
coronavirus in production
hubs like China, shifting
demographics, climate
change, and declining com-
pany investment following
geopolitical conflicts. Infla-
tion will still be a problem in
2023, but it will probably
peak and then start to drop.

30
CSS Chronicles
war, which has already
evolved into an attrition,
multi-domain conflict with
an expanding number of
participating countries,
could have disastrous geo-
political, economic, and
social repercussions, and it
is not likely to finish anytime
soon!
United States-China
Rivalry and Conflict
The Ukraine war has served
as a clear indication from
the US actions that it wants
to permanently reduce Rus-
sian power and influence.
Most experts concur that the
lead-up to the conflict was
orchestrated and carried
out in order to lure Russia
into an unjust war. Whatever
the conclusion of the con-
flict, which will undoubtedly
continue in an attrition
phase through 2023, Rus-
sia's image, prestige, and
power will unquestionably
be negatively harmed.
Within a more and more
disjointed international
system, the balance of
global power is shifting, and
multilateralism is being
called into question. The
world remains unstable due
to escalating geopolitical
tensions, fluctuating global
economic conditions, the
combined COVID effects,
and the conflict in Ukraine. In
the upcoming year, most
countries will devote their
resources to addressing
these issues, but the global
South will be particularly
badly struck. Our world is in
chaos in many areas. Most
of our projections about how
long the Ukraine war would
last were wrong. A global
strategy to tackle climate
change has not yet been
developed. Many of our
cherished ideals are in jeop-
ardy due to the rapid
advancement of technolo-
gy. The UN's structure is
out-of-date, and its power is
dwindling. The article enu-
merates a number of mat-
ters that will have an impact
in 2023. India has a unique
potential to change the
globe for both India and the
world in that gray area.
High food and fuel prices,
the struggle against infla-
tion, and the shift to renew-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
able energy sources are
also listed by The Economist
in the article series on "The
World Ahead 2023" as prob-
lems. China and Russia will
be restrained by the "West
led by the USA" by forming
and bolstering alliances and
agreements (QUAD, AUKUS).
Meanwhile, China and
Russia would step up their
efforts to win over more
allies or neutral states. Chi-
na's Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI) will deploy geoeco-
nomic methods more
frequently. Growing links
between China and the
Middle East, particularly
Saudi Arabia, and Xi's out-
reach to Africa also point to
more recent alliances.
Nations would want to form
coalitions and form
"issue-based alliances,"
which would help them
resist the demands of com-
peting for great powers.
31
2022 WAS A YEAR OF GLOBAL UNREST
Abdul Jabbar Rustamani
Introduction
The outgoing year, 2022,
was a year of global unrest
for several reasons. This was
a hard year in perspective of
economic woes, political
chaos, and social disinte-
gration faced by countries
across the world. The world
could barely get rid of
COVID-19-related prohibi-
tion. But, post covid implica-
tions made lives miserable
across the world. Further-
more, the Russia- Ukraine
war, being the major hap-
pening of the year, added
fuel to the fire. On one hand,
post covid world witnessed
a boom in demand for vari-
ous commodities. On the
other hand, energy supplies
fell short to meet industrial
needs due to Russia-
Ukraine war. This triggered a
gap in demand and supply
curves. This caused overall
inflation across the world.
Food prices also went up.
Many other events triggered
global unrest in the year
2022.
Uncertainty hits British
Politics & Economy
The year, 2022, witnessed
ambiguity in the British
economy and politics. Prob-
ably, these are post-Brexit
shocks. Subsequent eco-
nomic plans have failed to
yield results. The British
pound was low against the
US dollar. Due to economic
uncertainty, several prime
ministers of the United King-
dom decided to quit their
offices. Prime Minister's
house witnessed a change
of three prime ministers
during the year. This is
unprecedented in the histo-
ry of the United Kingdom. Liz
Truss, the successor of Boris
Johnson in the PM office,
was the shortest-serving
prime minister in the history
of the UK. On 25th October,
Rishi Sunak held the office of
British prime minister. He
became Furthermore, on 8th
September, Queen Elizabeth
II died at the age of 96. She
had been Britain's lon-
gest-serving monarch.
Queen Elizabeth was suc-
32
CSS Chronicles
ceeded by King Charles III on
the throne. In short, the year
2022 was hard for the United
Kingdom.
A Series of Crises hit
Pakistan
During the year 2022, Paki-
stan was hit by a series of
various crises on political,
economic, and climatic
fronts. March witnessed a
heat on political grounds.
Pakistan Democratic Move-
ment (PDM), a ten-parties
alliance, united on the politi-
cal front. Political activities
led to the ouster of the
then-prime minister Imran
Khan. Imran Khan lost a vote
of no confidence in the
National Assembly of Paki-
stan. Since then, there has
been political instability in
the country. Officials have
also been struggling to
overcome a prolonged eco-
nomic crisis which is widen-
ing day by day. On one
hand, Pakistan's balance of
payments is worsening. On
the other hand, debt has
been mounting. Due to this
Pakistan's exchequer is get-
ting empty to finance
imports and meet foreign
currency exchange
demand. Pakistan has
Volume 3 | Edition 7
resorted to IMF and other
friendly countries for finan-
cial aid. But, amid a decline
in industrial production,
Pakistan needs to do more
on the economic front.
Similarly, climate change
did not leave any stone
unturned to add to the woes
of Pakistan. August and
September months
witnessed unprecedented
rains which led to massive
floods. Floods affected a
quarter of the population of
Pakistan as a whole.
According to official statis-
tics, 33 million people were
directly affected due to the
flood. In short, the year 2022
fell heavily on Pakistan.
Humanitarian Crises
Deepen Across the Globe
On February 24, 2022, Russia
launched a "special military
operation" that it said was
needed to force the “demili-
tarization and denazification
of Ukraine.” Amid the Rus-
sia-Ukraine war, many
people are forced to flee
33
CSS Chronicles
war-hit areas. Ukraine has
especially been a case of it.
Many Ukrainians have fled
their homeland as the war is
going on. This has added to
the menace of the refugee
crisis. Many people are with-
out food and shelter.
According to an estimate,
there are 32 million refugees
across the globe. All of them
fled their countries to save
their lives, and avoid perse-
cution, conflict, or violence.
Countries like Syria, Yemen,
Afghanistan, and South
Sudan have been subjected
to the wars that caused the
refugee crisis.
Protests in Iran
Iran has been engulfed by
protests. The world has been
criticizing Iran for a recent
incident of the death of a
young lady in Police custo-
dy. Mahsa Amini, a 21 years
old Kurdish-Iranian woman,
was arrested by the "morali-
ty police" for failing to cover
her head properly in Tehran.
Her death in police custody
triggered protests in Sep-
tember. Many countries and
organizations condemned
Iran's moral policing quoting
it as a violation of human
rights.
Post-Covid Impacts
The world has overcome
coronavirus-related major
restrictions In September,
the head of the World Health
Organization declared that
the end of the pandemic is
“in sight.” But, it is not over.
Post-pandemic implications
have just arrived. Economies
across the world are reviving.
Demand for goods and ser-
vices has surged. But, means
to meet the demand are not
adequate to various factors
like shortage of energy sup-
plies due to Russia Ukraine
war and decisions of OPEC+
countries regarding oil pro-
duction.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
Inflation Engulfed the World
The year witnessed an
unprecedented hike in infla-
tion. Inflation touched new
peaks. This is mainly
because of multiple factors
that pushed the world into a
demand pull and cost push
inflation. As already stated,
the post-pandemic world
witnessed a revival of econ-
omies. This led to a surge in
demand. However, the
means to meet that
demand was less. For
example, due to Russia and
Ukraine wars, the world
experienced a shortfall of
energy. Russia is a major
energy supplier to the major
economies of the world.
Russia is at daggers drawn
with other European coun-
tries. Hence, it decided to
show European countries its
strength by cutting fuel
prices and soaring energy
34
CSS Chronicles
prices. Furthermore, the
OPEC+ decision to cut fuel
production, amid the grow-
ing demand, added to the
menace. Therefore, these
events caused demand pull
and cost push inflation.
Climate Change Intensifies
Climate change is showing
its negative impacts. We are
experiencing it. Take the
case of Pakistan, it being
one of the most vulnerable
countries to climate change,
which met catastrophic
impacts of climate change
in the year 2022. It witnessed
unprecedented rains in
August and September.
Similarly, many other dele-
terious events undertook
around the world. In the out-
going year, North America
witnessed extreme weather.
The United States of Ameri-
ca and Canada had to bear
the burns of harsh weather.
In some parts of the coun-
tries, the temperature went
as low as -40 C°. Millions of
people were restricted to
homes. Energy supplies
were also disrupted in many
parts. In brief, climate
change caused catastroph-
ic impacts around the world.
A Multipolar World
The world is moving towards
a multipolar world. The US,
China, and Russia are major
players. China is threatening
the hegemonic designs of
the US on economic fronts.
Similarly, Russia is a rival of
the US on political fronts.
Rivalries on economic and
political fronts have intensi-
fied in the year 2022. China
has revived its economy
brilliantly in the post-pan-
demic world. The US is trying
to influence Russia through
Volume 3 | Edition 7
Russia Ukraine war. The US
wants to isolate Russia. It
asked the world not to trade
with Russia labeling her an
oppressor in the war against
Ukraine. But, this did not
work. India clarified her
position regarding energy
supplies from Russia. Saudi
Arabia acceded to the
OPEC+ decision to cut fuel
production. The decision is
impacting US's political
strength. Saudi Arabia and
vUS's relations aggravated
in the outgoing year. In brief,
the world is moving towards
a multipolar world with sev-
eral players.
Conclusion
2022 was a year of global
unrest for mentioned rea-
sons. It brought political,
economic, social, and
climatic unrest to the world.
The world will have to fight
for a long to overcome the
impacts of these occurrenc-
es. It is hoped that the new
year 2023 will bring peace
and tranquility to the world.
35
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37
CSS Chronicles
What 2022 meant for
the world
Published in The Economist
It was a year that put the
world to the test. From the
invasion of Ukraine to
covid-19 in China, from
inflation to climate change,
from Sino-American ten-
sions to pivotal elections,
2022 asked hard questions.
The ordeal has not only sent
the world in a new direction,
but also shown it in a new
light.
The biggest surprise—and
the most welcome—has
been the resilience of
broadly liberal countries in
the West. When Vladimir
Putin ordered Russian troops
into Ukraine on February
24th, he expected the gov-
ernment of a corrupt state
to buckle. After a humiliating
withdrawal from Afghani-
stan in 2021, the decadent,
divided West would surely
fail to match condemnation
of Russia with real backing
for Ukraine.
In fact Volodymyr Zelensky
and his people affirmed that
self-determination and
liberty are worth dying for.
They became an inspiration.
After an upsurge in popular
support, Western govern-
ments threw their weight
behind democracy’s new
champion. Led by the Biden
administration, the West is
providing arms and aid on a
scale even hawks had not
imagined.
At home voters also made
themselves heard, siding
against taboo-busting pop-
ulists. In America, despite
the awful approval numbers
of Joe Biden, centrists used
their ballots to preserve fun-
damental rights, including in
some states the right to an
abortion after the Supreme
Court overturned Roe v
Wade. In competitive races
hard-core election-deniers
endorsed by Donald Trump
almost all lost.
In France Marine Le Pen
camouflaged her far-right
origins, but was still beaten
by Emmanuel Macron, a
centrist. After Giorgia Meloni
became Italy’s first far-right
post-war prime minister,
she leaned to the centre.
Even in stumbling Britain,
both Labour and the gov-
erning Conservatives are
calculating that victory in
elections lies away from the
populist extremes of right
and left.
As messy democracies
show unexpected resolve, so
seemingly steady autocra-
cies have had feet of clay.
Mr Putin is the prime exam-
ple, doubling and redou-
bling his catastrophic
gamble. But he is not the
only one. After three months
of protests following the
death in custody of Mahsa
Amini, who had been arrest-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
ed for failing to follow the
rules in wearing her hijab,
the security forces in Iran
have taken to shooting
female protesters in the
face, breasts and genitals.
Now that the mullahs have
forfeited the faith of their
people, they have no other
lever but violence.
Those who admire strong
leaders for getting things
done should be careful what
they wish for. Xi Jinping has
extended the dominance of
the Chinese Communist
Party, installing himself as its
permanent chief and the
most powerful leader since
Mao Zedong. But his steps to
cool the property market,
rein back consumer tech
and block covid did grave
harm to the economy.
Today, as the virus spreads,
it is clear that his govern-
ment wasted months when
it should have been vacci-
nating the elderly, stockpil-
ing drugs and creating
intensive-care beds.
Even China’s all-encom-
passing social control
showed cracks. Although
the Chinese security ser-
vices swatted down wide-
spread protests last month,
these had been triggered
partly by the sight of mask-
less crowds in Qatar enjoy-
ing the World Cup.
For all those who embrace
classical liberal values,
including this newspaper,
38
CSS Chronicles
Western resilience is heart-
ening—and an important
change after a long retreat.
But the good news goes only
so far. The tests of 2022 have
also revealed the depths of
the world’s divisions and
have set big government on
the march.
To gauge the divisions,
compare the almost univer-
sal support for America after
the attacks of September
11th 2001 with the global
south’s determination to
stay neutral in the fight over
Ukraine. In the most recent
un vote to reprimand Russia,
35 countries abstained.
Many understandably
resent how the West asserts
that its worries are issues of
global principle, whereas
war in Yemen or the Horn of
Africa, say, or climate-relat-
ed droughts and floods,
always seem to be regional.
In much of the world liberal
values are embattled.
Despite the defeat of Jair
Bolsonaro in Brazil, democ-
racy is under strain in Latin
America. As he presides
over ruinous inflation in
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdo-
gan is prosecuting potential
opponents in the election in
2023. In Israel Binyamin Net-
anyahu is trying to avoid jail
for corruption by forming a
coalition with the Arab-hat-
ing, gay-bashing far right.
Indonesia adopted an illib-
eral criminal code in
December that threatens to
ban sex outside marriage,
stifle free speech and
impose religious orthodoxy.
India’s economy is brim-
ming over with tech-in-
spired enterprise, but its pol-
itics are majoritarian, ugly
and cruel.
All around the world, the
idea of limited government
is taking a beating. Because
of the post-invasion energy
shock, European govern-
ments are pouring money
into fixing prices. They are
also powering the transition
from fossil fuels, itself a wel-
come goal, using industrial
policy rather than markets.
America’s answer to the
security threat from China is
to deploy trade barriers and
subsidies to decouple its
own economy and boost
home-grown industries. If
that harms America’s allies,
too bad.
Economic nationalism is
popular. The largesse during
the pandemic changed
expectations of the state.
Creative destruction, which
reallocates capital and
labour, may be unpalatable
to ageing populations that
put less store by economic
growth and to younger
voters who embrace the
politics of identity.
But big-government capi-
talism has a poor record.
Given decades-high infla-
tion, caused partly by
ill-judged fiscal and mone-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
tary policy, especially in
America, it is odd that voters
want to reward politicians
and officials by giving them
power over bits of the econ-
omy they are not suited to
run. State-backed champi-
ons in energy and tech
sometimes succeed, but the
more that countries pile in,
the more waste and
rent-seeking there will be.
The chips were down
Judged by the liberal yard-
stick of limited government,
a respect for individual dig-
nity and a faith in human
progress, 2022 has been
mixed. However, there is
hope. The West was arro-
gant after the collapse of
Soviet communism. It paid
the price in Iraq, Afghanistan
and the global financial
crisis of 2007-09. In 2022,
having been rocked by pop-
ulism at home and China’s
extraordinary rise, the West
was challenged and it found
its footing.
Elon Musk, the social
media autocrat
Published in Al Jazeera
Like millions of people
around the world, I have
been closely following the
debacle at Twitter since Elon
Musk took the company
over. Not only do I fear the
loss of a space for free
debate and access to infor-
mation – especially valu-
able for those of us from
39
CSS Chronicles
not-so-free places. But as a
political cartoonist, I am also
afraid of losing the platform
where I and many of my
peers started our activism
during the Arab Spring,
which made Twitter what it
is today.
Perhaps this turn of events
was inevitable. For a while
now, the tech industry has
been cultivating personality
cults. It started with Steve
Jobs and his carefully con-
structed image of an open,
curious innovator who in
reality presided over “one of
the tightest-controlled cor-
porations” in the world.
While Jobs stayed away
from politics, the tech bros
that have come after him,
pursuing iconic status, have
not.
Their fervent quests to grow
their fortunes and their egos
have pushed them onto the
political scene and exposed
their self-serving agendas.
Musk made his political
intentions for the Twitter
takeover quite apparent,
tweeting in May – while the
deal was still not concluded
– a painting of Louis XIV, the
“Sun King”. A self-declared
“free-speech absolutist”, he
crowned himself the new
“enlightened” king of social
media and declared that he
will set Twitter “free”.
But watching him act and
react over the past two
months, I see him much less
as a “Sun King reigning over
a flourishing kingdom, and
much more as a little mod-
ern-day dictator presiding
over a crumbling regime.
Just like an ambitious power
usurper, he started his take-
over of Twitter by talking
about “democracy” and the
“will of the people”, but
made a mockery out of
them. He quickly trans-
formed what he himself
called “the digital town
square” into his own private
back yard, where he rules
supreme.
Just like a classic dictator,
Musk has also shown no
tolerance for dissent and
criticism. He has reportedly
fired employees for daring
to speak up against his
decisions within the compa-
ny or on social media.
Just like a standard authori-
tarian, he hates the press
and does not hesitate to
censor it (albeit presenting
himself as a freedom of
speech advocate). In
mid-December, he sus-
pended the accounts of
several journalists who had
been critical of him.
Just like a wannabe auto-
crat, Musk is seeking to
extract as much wealth as
possible by merciless
exploitation. He has can-
celled benefits, forced em-
ployees into endless work-
ing days and even installed
Volume 3 | Edition 7
beds in the Twitter head-
quarters to squeeze any
living energy out of them for
the benefit of his company.
And like a good tyrant, he
has overseen an exodus of
people from his domain,
some leaving voluntarily,
others being forced into
“exile”.
Indeed, I feel for the former
Twitter employees. I also
know too well what it feels
like to have to leave the
place you love because of a
dictator’s whim. The man
responsible for my and my
family’s exile is Omar
al-Bashir, who came to
power in Sudan in 1989. He
had no tolerance for dissent
– or talent for that matter –
and pushed out anyone who
was not a hardline loyalist,
causing a massive brain
drain out of the country.
In the three decades he
ruled, he oversaw a bloody
civil war, multiple ethnic
conflicts, a genocide, a
deadly famine and an eco-
nomic collapse. He brought
the country to its knees and
deservedly won the hatred
of the majority of the Suda-
nese population.
He pushed the people to
their limit and was eventual-
ly toppled by a peaceful
popular revolution in 2019.
Musk makes me think of
al-Bashir. What the tech
40
CSS Chronicles
tycoon seems to have in
common with the Sudanese
dictator is that just like him,
he is holding on to power
even in the face of growing
popular anger and protest.
Musk’s decisions since he
came to power have been
extremely unpopular. He has
faced criticism not only from
users, IT experts and busi-
ness commentators, but has
also received warnings from
government officials,
including Thierry Breton, the
EU’s digital chief.
He appears to be widely
disliked off Twitter as well. In
December, he made an
appearance at Dave Chap-
pelle’s stand-up comedy
show in San Francisco only
to be booed into silence. As
videos of his unfortunate
encounter with reality made
it online, Musk still claimed,
“it was 90% cheers & 10%
boos” in a tweet which he
later deleted.
Musk appears to be so in
denial about his unpopulari-
ty that he promised to resign
as Twitter CEO if people
voted for it in a Twitter poll.
And they did. Some 57.5 per-
cent said “yes” to him step-
ping down. But he did not.
It took him more than 40
hours to acknowledge the
result and when he did, he
said he would resign only
when he finds someone else
to take the job. This is such
an old dictator’s trick – pre-
tending like there is no one
better for the job to stay in
power indefinitely.
But what Musk does not
have in common with
al-Bashir is regime loyalists
– people willing to prop him
up even when the ship is
sinking.
Musk derives his power from
his wealth, but that is depen-
dent on market forces he
cannot fully control. Big
investors who have enabled
his various tech adventures
are much fickler than regime
loyalists. They would jump
ship at the slightest sign of
distress which could cause
them monetary losses.
That has already been hap-
pening with Twitter: many
big brands put on hold
advertising on the platform,
causing a major slump in
advertising revenue. It could
also happen with electric
car company Tesla, Musk’s
other large business ven-
ture, whose shares have
gone down almost 40 per-
cent since the end of Octo-
ber, causing large investors
to openly criticise the CEO.
Musk seems to be making
the same mistake as
al-Bashir and other fallen
dictators. He seems to be
underestimating people’s
power.
Twitter, like other social
Volume 3 | Edition 7
media networks, is nothing
without us, its users. In fact, it
was the Arab Spring’s peo-
ple-led uprisings that made
the then-mundane microb-
logging site into the global
platform it is today.
And just like in the Arab
Spring – when people rose
against incompetent autoc-
racy – popular resistance is
emerging against Musk’s
dictatorial vagaries. Former
employees have filed multi-
ple court cases against the
company, and have already
scored an early victory.
Users have also risen up.
Some are arguing that the
best way to resist Musk’s
policies is from within the
platform; others are leaving
and encouraging others to
move to competitor apps.
Musk tried to thwart the
latter by imposing strict new
rules on promoting or refer-
ring to other social media
platforms. That quickly cre-
ated a backlash and the
change in policy had to be
scrapped.
The end of Musk’s digital
autocracy will come –
sooner or later. But his trou-
bled rule should stand as a
warning to other tech bros
who aspire to be tech dicta-
tors. The internet – and by
extension, social media – is
a space built upon people’s
natural affinity for freedom.
Any attempt to usurp and
control it is doomed to fail.
41
CSS Chronicles
Netanyahu’s
extremist coalition
may have a silver
lining
Published in Arab News
Israel’s indicted Prime Minis-
ter Benjamin Netanyahu’s
efforts to court the country’s
most extreme political par-
ties to protect himself and
others from criminal prose-
cution may be the best thing
to happen to the long-dor-
mant peace process in
years.
The target of a long-de-
layed corruption case
resulting from a 2016 investi-
gation, Netanyahu has part-
nered with the country’s
most anti-Arab political
parties, which also include
politicians who face legal
issues.
Their hope is that, in forming
this new government, they
can block or significantly
influence impending prose-
cutions and stymie unfavor-
able legal restrictions that
would likely undermine their
political agendas.
Netanyahu stands formally
accused in three cases: The
first of accepting nearly
$300,000 in gifts between
2007 and 2016 in exchange
for political favors while
serving as prime minister;
the second of promising the
publisher of a centrist news-
paper, Yediot Aharonot, that
he would curb the strength
of a rival publication, Israel
Hayom, owned by billionaire
Sheldon Adelson; and the
third of engaging in influ-
ence-peddling to protect
the media empire of the
country’s largest telecom
mogul in exchange for posi-
tive media coverage.
Netanyahu is currently
working on easing restric-
tions that prevent people
convicted of crimes from
serving as government min-
isters. This would benefit
Aryeh Deri, an ultra-Ortho-
dox Jewish politician con-
victed last year on charges
of tax evasion. Deri has been
handed several ministerial
positions in Netanyahu’s
new coalition government.
Another Netanyahu ally is
Jewish Power party leader
Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has
been convicted on charges
of disturbing public order,
interfering with a police offi-
cer while performing his
duty, incitement to racism
and supporting a terror
organization, according to
Israeli media.
Ben-Gvir has been named
as minister for national
security with new, expanded
powers over the Israeli
police, which has already
been accused of targeting
Palestinian citizens who
have protested against the
Israeli government’s poli-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
cies. Ben-Gvir is also a disci-
ple of the late extremist
Rabbi Meir Kahane and the
Kahanist movement he
founded, which has been
denounced as a terrorist
organization.
Yet another ally is Bezalel
Smotrich, an anti-Palestin-
ian extremist who believes
that Israel should provide
funding to minority groups,
but has publicly stated he
would seek to legislate to
exclude Palestinian citizens
of Israel from receiving such
funds.
Netanyahu has the backing
of slightly more than half of
the country’s Jewish voters,
based on the coalition’s
voter strength in the last
election, but his plans to
strengthen the voices of
extremist religious zealots
has fueled outrage among
Jews living in many Western
countries, including in the
US.
If this rhetoric intensifies, you
can bet that the rhetoric
against Palestinian rights
will also be even greater.
Israel’s media has avoided
any reporting that is too crit-
ical of Israeli or settler
violence against Palestin-
ians, as exemplified by its
mediocre and unprincipled
stand on the killing of jour-
nalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an
American citizen, last May.
The rise of this extremist
42
CSS Chronicles
anti-Arab coalition could
also have impacts in the
Arab world itself, undermin-
ing the Abraham Accords
and further aggravating the
vacant peace accords Israel
has with Jordan and Egypt.
Humans often find them-
selves at odds with each
other over political and
societal differences, pre-
venting them from coming
together. But when a greater
concern arises, it often
forces people to set aside
their differences and come
together to fight the new
threat. That could be the
unexpected silver lining of
Netanyahu’s political deal
with the devil that is aimed
at salvaging his own career.
Biased, bigoted,
boorish: That’s
Western media
reporting on Qatar
2022
Published in TRT World
As the FIFA World Cup
comes to a close with
Argentina as the victor, one
cannot help but reflect on
the extent of Western
hypocrisy in media report-
ing of the event.
Coverage for football’s
showpiece event, specifical-
ly by Western outlets, has
been overwhelmingly nega-
tive since before the tourna-
ment even began. Numer-
ous issues centred on
alleged human rights
abuses dominated head-
lines for weeks despite
rebuttals and counter-cri-
tiques.
While there was vast popu-
lar and social media sup-
port towards the fact that an
Arab nation hosted this
global event, the Western
press, till the very last
moment, proved them-
selves as rife with bias and
bigotry. It was quite ironic
that those who serve as
mouthpieces for so-called
human rights agendas ped-
dled such blatant lies.
It is genuinely confusing why
so many news outlets ran an
article on Argentina captain
Lionel Messi receiving a
traditional ‘bisht’ from Qatari
Emir Tamim bin Hamad al
Thani moments before
receiving the World Cup
trophey - particularly con-
sidering he donned it for a
brief moment.
A long and winding headline
by the Daily Mail read, “Self-
ish moment Qatar World
Cup hosts force Lionel Messi
to cover up his iconic No.10
shirt with an Arabic robe for
trophy presentation: ‘It’s a
moment for the players, not
the host.’ And the Telegraph
called it a bizarre act that
“ruined the greatest
moment in World Cup histo-
ry” before changing their
headline.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
The gesture from the host
country was not for the
entire team, which high-
lighted that it was a gift
meant to honour Messi in
the highest way possible
through the highest authori-
ty in the state. Despite this,
former footbal-
ler-turned-commentator
Gary Lineker could not resist
saying on BBC: “This is a
magic moment. It’s a shame
in a way they’ve covered up
Messi in his Argentina shirt.”
It is certainly not the first
time a winning team has
donned parts of the local
dress at the celebration
during a global event. It is,
however, the first time it
prompted so many visceral
opinions.
The issue of this hypocrisy
does not lie in the criticism
itself, which, of course, is a
necessary tool to encourage
progress on specific topics.
What is problematic, how-
ever, is that these criticisms
fall onto a scale of Eurocen-
tric/Western hierarchy of
values - values that they
cannot uphold. Furthermore,
some criticism was levelled
without factual reporting,
and some stories were just
blatantly racist. The wave of
criticism covered topics
such as migrant workers'
rights and representation
and the ban on alcohol in
stadiums. These only
showed selective criteria of
concern and other biases.
43
CSS Chronicles
Beginning well before this
edition of the World Cup
began, Western news out-
lets started publishing arti-
cles criticising Qatar’s
alleged human rights
abuses concerning migrant
labour. Unfortunately, from
misrepresentation of the
number of migrant workers
who reportedly lost their
lives in the construction of
the stadiums to a lack of
self-reflection from the crit-
ics made these articles
tedious to endure.
Research from Misbar high-
lights that The Guardian,
along with other publica-
tions, was misleading
regarding the death toll –
failing to mention that the
figure represented a alcohol in fan zones and
ten-year period and did not
solely reflect FIFA projects.
But the barrage of articles
did not stop, despite it being
revealed that a large
number of contractors
working on the stadiums
were, in fact, European firms.
First, French media draw
parallels between Qataris
and terrorists espousing
their morality on human
rights abuses (despite a
French firm being tried in a
Parisienne court for their
complicity in the FIFA stadi-
um construction); in the
same vein, a French TV
report featuring far-right
politician Eric Zemmour
discussing the Blackness of
the national team and how
it was problematic for him
saying, “If there were 9
whites in the Senegalese
team, the Senegalese would
wonder…”
Next up was the issue con-
cerning the alcohol ban in
stadiums; quick to condemn
Qatar for their ‘religious’
decision, there was a failure
to mention that alcohol
bans in stadiums are stan-
dard practice, including the
previous World Cup held in
Russia.
FIFA actually had to petition
to change Brazilian law to
allow alcohol in their stadi-
ums. On the other hand,
Qatar did not ban the sale of
other areas outside the sta-
diums. As such, it is con-
cerning that this news gen-
erated so much content and
that, for example, the French
ban on the hijab during all
sports events, which may
affect participants in the
upcoming Olympics to be
held in France in 2024, is
going unquestioned.
And while the Moroccan
team filled the hearts of
Arabs and Africans with
pride with their outstanding
performance, the Western
media completely dehu-
manised them.
German media accused the
players of being Daesh sup-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
porters due to the use of a
hand gesture commonly
used to signify the oneness
of God.
One report highlights, “Welt,
one of Germany’s most
popular TV channels, said
the image of the Moroccan
players holding their index
finger to the air had caused
‘irritation’ because it’s the
‘salute’ the so-called Islamic
State (IS) used after con-
quests. The segment went
on to suggest that the
Muslim players were
unaware of the importance
of the upheld index finger.”
They also very ignorantly
implied the overwhelming
support towards Palestine
through the Moroccan team
and many fans raising the
flag as an anti-semitic ges-
ture. This not only perpetu-
ates the highly taxing myth
that supporting a free Pales-
tinian state equals
anti-Semitism or the fact
that Arabs, as Semitic
people, cannot be anti-Se-
mitic but plays into this
display of selective human-
ism and moral superiority. A
report from MEE highlights,
“This celebration, according
to Taz, is punctured by the
“antisemitic tinge” of
displaying the Palestinian
flag.
Another German journalist,
Julian Ropcke of Bild news-
paper, sparked a backlash
44
CSS Chronicles
by arguing that Moroccan
fans faced no problems for
holding Palestinian flags
and raising pro-Palestinian
slogans.
My final point of concern is
the Danish media drawing a
strange parallel between
Moroccan players celebrat-
ing their win with their moth-
ers to monkeys huddling up
for warmth, to the shock and
ire of much of the audience.
TV 2 NEWS host Christian
Hogh Andersen said, “In
continuation of the talk
about Morocco (players)
and their families in Qatar,
we also have an animal
family gathering to keep
warm,” he said. The host and
TV station have since issued
unconditional apologies.
Unfortunately, rather than
presenting constructive crit-
icism or offering solutions/-
support, the media, social
media and the general
Western public felt more
comfortable with blind
insults and reductive com-
parisons to make their point.
This World Cup truly did
bring to light the fact that
cultural tension is growing,
and while the European
continent battles migrants
and refugees bringing their
cultures to EU society, it
seems they also want to
dictate how people should
conduct themselves outside
of their sovereign territory.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
Why climate change biodiversity and climate
is intimately tied to change. Each year more
than a quarter of the carbon
bio diversity dioxide emitted by industry
and agriculture is absorbed
Published in The Economist
by natural ecosystems.
The natural world is a source
Around the world, invest-
of beauty and wonder, but it
ment in the energy transi-
also provides humans with
tion is accelerating. Spend-
essential services. Jungles,
ing in 2022 on clean energy,
savannahs and mangroves
for example, should reach
act as buffers against infec-
$1.4trn, roughly a fifth above
tious diseases and storm
the pre-pandemic level.
surges. Forests channel
Scores of countries and
moisture into rivers that
thousands of big compa-
irrigate crops, while their
nies have plans to get to
roots prevent landslides. At
net-zero emissions within
a gathering on Monday in
the next 20-30 years. Given
Montreal, 196 governments
that biodiversity has an
from around the world
important role in meeting
pledged to protect and
these carbon-reduction
restore 30% or more of the
goals, you might think that it
Earth’s water and land by
would feature highly in these
2030.
plans.
Lofty promises about pre-
Not so. For example, Joe
serving the world’s biodiver-
Biden’s chief piece of
sity have been made and
climate legislation, the Infla-
broken many times before.
tion Reduction Act, contains
One step towards avoiding
about $400bn of subsidies
yet more disappointment is
for clean energy and other
to emphasise the close link
initiatives yet has too little to
between preserving biodi-
say about biodiversity.
versity and the widely held
Faced with tighter regula-
goal of reaching net-zero
tion of emissions and car-
carbon emissions.
bon-pricing schemes, many
bosses are now dedicating
The destruction of natural
more time and cash to cut-
environments is depressing,
ting their firms’ carbon foot-
relentless and hard to
prints. But most still regard
ignore. The area of coral
biodiversity as a
reefs has halved since the
nice-to-have luxury that is
1950s and the rate of loss is
far beyond their remit.
accelerating. Some 10m
hectares of forest are lost
That needs to change. Safe-
worldwide every year. Less
guarding biodiversity is an
known is the link between
45
CSS Chronicles
efficient way to control
carbon emissions. More of
the rising amounts of gov-
ernment spending being
thrown at mitigating and
adapting to climate change
should be spent on it.
In addition, companies and
investment firms that are
allocating huge sums to
developing clean-energy
sources, re-engineering
industrial processes and
developing carbon-capture
technologies should pay
more attention to the
opportunities from preserv-
ing ecosystems. By investing
in biodiversity—directing
capital to projects that
repair an ecosystem, for
example—companies can
offset their emissions. By
some estimates, schemes
to manage carbon-rich
peatlands and wetlands
and to reforest cleared land
could provide more than
one-third of the emissions
reductions that are needed
to prevent more than 2°C of
global warming.
Key to marshalling more
capital is better measure-
ment, so that the link
between investment in nat-
ural projects, biodiversity
and carbon is made clear.
Today some so-called car-
bon-offset schemes that
involve firms paying money
to, say, plant a forest, are
dubious and opaque—and
belong to the realm of
con-artists and scams
rather than science. Better
guidelines and practice can
help and so can new tech-
nology. Drones and satel-
lites can improve the mea-
surement of biodiversity and
accounting systems can
measure how spending on
biodiversity compares with
funnelling cash into other
kinds of carbon manage-
ment.
The services ecology
The planet is in a vicious
cycle in which global warm-
ing damages ecosystems,
in turn impairing their ability
to absorb carbon. Over the
past 20 years the Amazon
has become a net source of
carbon dioxide, emitting 13%
more than it captures.
Spending money on nature
need not only be an act of
philanthropy. It can also be
attractive for governments
and firms investing in miti-
gating climate change.
Climate justice needs
more than a fund. It
needs accountability
Published in Al Jazeera
After innumerable fits and
starts, COP27 witnessed a
win for climate diplomacy in
November, when the United
Nations climate conference
agreed to set up a fund for
loss and damage caused by
global warming — a key
demand of many develop-
ing nations.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
The fund is a reason to cele-
brate. But poorer nations,
which need support as
extreme weather conditions
ravage them year after year,
need to stay careful.
For there is a risk that in win-
ning this battle, they could
lose the war for climate
justice.
Masterclass in climate
diplomacy
Pakistan, ravaged by devas-
tating floods recently, led
the diplomacy — in the
weeks leading up to the
conference.
It made sure that the cries of
flood-hit communities could
not be ignored and that rich
countries felt pressured to
do more than just acknowl-
edge the damage their
historic emissions have
caused.
As elected president of the
G77 plus China negotiating
bloc, Pakistan became the
relentless voice for all devel-
oping countries facing
climate risk at COP27. Pre-
dictably, there were efforts
to divide developing
nations. To its credit, Paki-
stan held the group togeth-
er, acknowledging the
uniqueness of each coun-
try’s circumstances while
persistently reminding them
of the common goal that
would benefit all: creating a
loss and damage fund.
46
CSS Chronicles
As Meena Raman, the direc-
tor of Third World Network
and an expert on the UN
climate summits told The
Guardian: “We have seen
such divide-and-control
efforts time and time again.
But when the G77 remains
strong, we get good out-
comes; if they are divided,
developing countries lose.”
Remember, the top United
States diplomat on climate
change, John Kerry, had
declared that a fund of this
sort is “just not happening”.
Against that backdrop, the
establishment of the fund at
the end of COP27 is a
remarkable diplomatic
achievement.
But such wins are inade-
quate unless they are
guided by a rationale that
benefits the majority of
people across the world.
Unfortunately, the G77’s
response to the announce-
ment of the fund is a cause
for concern. Its message
that “loss and damage is
not charity, it’s about
climate justice” ironically
pulled the ground from
underneath those fighting
the climate justice war for
decades.
For let’s be clear — while a
fund to compensate for loss
and damage is certainly not
charity, it can also never,
even remotely, be about
climate justice. No amount
of money can pay for lives
and livelihoods lost.
Equating the two gave rich
countries the easy way out –
a path they are happy to
take.
The fight for climate justice
This isn’t just a philosophical
squabble with those who
successfully led diplomacy
for developing nations at
COP27. There are serious
practical implications at
stake here.
The loss and damage fund
was only accepted with a
fine print which gave
wealthy nations a pass on
responsibility and account-
ability – the only design for
such an initiative accept-
able to rich countries.
COP27 rightly focused on
those who are suffering
damage but at the same
time turned a blind eye
towards those causing it.
This is not justice. Instead,
rich countries struck the
deal of the year.
The gavel was brought
down on a fund that allows
them to damage the planet
as much as they please, in
exchange for volunteering
to pay for the losses after
the fact. As of now, they are
not required to make even
Volume 3 | Edition 7
the firm — though often
hollow — commitments that
have long marked COP
events.
In effect, rich countries
packaged the dollar as
climate justice, and sold it to
countries so desperately
unheard and ill-resourced.
As former US President
Ronald Reagan once said: “A
hungry child knows no poli-
tics.”
There’s another risk, too. The
decisions at COP27 envis-
age a fund to assist devel-
oping countries that are
“particularly vulnerable to
climate change”. It is impos-
sible to quantify climate
vulnerability objectively – no
institution should decide
whose life is more deserving
of justice than others.
Including this condition for
accessing the funds may
result in a race to become
the most climate-vulnera-
ble country.
To be clear, the very agree-
ment on a loss and damage
fund shows that climate
diplomacy is working, and
rich countries are under
pressure to show results. But
to turn that into a vehicle for
climate justice, we must first
arrive at an understanding
of what climate justice really
is — and what it isn’t.
47
CSS Chronicles
Global instability
reflected in large
number of desperate
migrants
Published in Arab News
Like many at the beginning
of the new year, I have been
wondering if 2023 will be
better for the world based
on what we saw unfold in
2022. The short answer is no.
The long answer is that,
given human nature’s incli-
nation to always be hopeful,
I am going to hold on to
positivity and wish for the
best.
But my positivity was quickly
dampened by the news that
13 Moroccans had drowned
trying to reach the Canary
Islands in Spain last week.
Meanwhile, the Italian
coastguard rushed to the
rescue of 50 migrants who
were in distress in the sea
between Italy and Libya this
week, despite the desire of
Rome’s anti-immigration
government to reduce the
number of arrivals. In Leba-
non on Saturday, two people
drowned and 200 were res-
cued after their boat, which
was destined for Europe,
sank. In Gaza, a mother has
received the corpse of her
son, who perished at sea
along with seven others
after making the land jour-
ney through Egypt to Libya
with the aim of making it to
Europe with the help of
human traffickers.
Last year, nearly 2,000
people were recorded as
dead or missing in the Medi-
terranean by the UN Refu-
gee Agency. The number
reaching Europe by crossing
the Mediterranean has been
on the increase for the past
three years, reaching
146,000 in 2022. The UK
announced this week that
more than 45,000 migrants
reached its shores in small
boats last year, which is
17,000 more than the previ-
ous year.
The majority of those arriv-
ing in Europe have claimed
they are fleeing persecution,
conflict, violence, instability
and poverty in North and
sub-Saharan Africa, Syria,
Yemen, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran
and even farther afield, such
as Afghanistan and other
parts of Asia.
The moral case for giving
shelter to those in need still
mobilizes many in the West-
ern world, despite the pres-
sure on resources and
ever-shrinking state purses
for providing adequate
housing, social care and
education for their needy
citizens, let alone the new-
comers who require funding
for their initial integration,
which might last for years.
But there are also some
adversities, as many coun-
tries known for their hospita-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
ble policies toward refugees
have been grappling to sep-
arate illegal or economic
migrants from genuine
asylum seekers and a
smaller number of those
who could be victims of
criminal human trafficking
gangs.
The UK has been promising
to make it extremely difficult
for those arriving illegally to
remain in the country, since
the belief is that many of
them have been paying
people smugglers huge
sums of money for the jour-
ney.
They are then classified as
economic migrants risking
their lives for what they hope
will be better living condi-
tions and opportunities in a
developed country.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,
under pressure to curb
migration, has pledged to
reduce the backlog of
asylum seeker applications
waiting to be processed in a
bid to curb the overall
number of migrants reach-
ing the UK in general. Specif-
ically, he wants to try and
create precedents of failed
applications to deter those
arriving by small boats from
French shores from paying
large sums of money for
nothing.
As the UK and many other
countries have found out,
there is no easy way to stop
48
CSS Chronicles
people from trying to seek
an alternative life, under
whatever pretext and at any
cost, material or physical.
Since the dawn of history,
people have been on the
move and it is no different
today for those determined
to try to seek a better life
somewhere else. The prob-
lem faced by host countries
— which are often Western,
democratic, stable nations
— is that people are ready to
go to any lengths to reach
their soil.
The UK Conservative gov-
ernment has drawn heavy
criticism for its Rwanda
removal policy and its
efforts to process and
remove the Albanians who
made up at least 25 percent
of all small boat arrivals last
year, despite their home
country being deemed safe.
The UN Refugee Agency said
that British plans are likely to
undermine global refugee
protection rules and violate
international law. It said
London was going against
the basic principles of inter-
national solidarity and
responsibility sharing, upon
which the 1951 Refugee Con-
vention was founded. Brit-
ain’s new focus on Albanian
migrants also seems to
have angered that country’s
Prime Minister Edi Rama,
who said that the UK should
“stop discriminating”
against people from Albania
to excuse its own migration
policy failures.
For years, Britain has suf-
fered from a broken immi-
gration system, which is
viewed by many as having
too many loopholes that,
while helping deserving
political refugees and genu-
ine asylum seekers, can also
be capitalized on and used
and abused by economic
migrants and criminal
human traffickers.
The year 2023 has started
with the world looking more
and more volatile, with no
indication of a rapid end to
the war in Ukraine, while
there is also instability in
Afghanistan under the Tali-
ban and the heavy-handed
clampdown on demonstra-
tors in Iran, to mention just a
few. In addition to violent
conflicts and civil strife, eco-
nomic woes are multiplying
and exerting more pressure
on precarious nations that
are struggling in the face of
costly food and crop failures
due to climate change,
along with other adversities,
putting further pressure on
people to seek alternatives
and maybe flee.
Is Germany
undermining EU
unity?
Published in TRT World
A deep recession triggered
by the Ukraine conflict has
opened up yawning fissures
in the European Union. And
Berlin is precipitating the
Volume 3 | Edition 7
crisis with its unilateral
actions.
At the first signs of a deep
economic recession in
Europe, serious rifts are
developing between the
European Union's two pow-
erhouses, Germany and
France, over multiple issues,
including energy, defence
and international trade.
It was all rosy until a
high-level ministerial meet-
ing between the two coun-
tries was cancelled last
month, surprising most
experts and government
insiders alike about the
extent of the fallout.
To measure the significance
of that meeting consider
that French President Em-
manuel Macron and
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz, along with their cab-
inets, were scheduled to
meet and sign several
agreements in October. This
would have been Scholz’s
first annual Franco-German
ministerial council meeting,
but the two countries
couldn’t agree on the
agenda.
The reason for the fallout
runs around the EU’s energy
and defence policy and how
to deal with China.
Energy policy
The 27-nation bloc has so
far failed to agree on the
energy price cap – clearly a
49
CSS Chronicles
sour point – which is meant
to protect the EU as a joint
entity and negotiate with
international gas suppliers
as a more substantial client,
buying large amounts in
bulk at cheaper rates.
While Europe debates its
energy price cap, many
European countries are
taking unilateral decisions.
Germany, in particular, has
caused serious alarm
across Europe after some of
its policies have been
termed “selfish”.
Berlin, under considerable
domestic pressure due to
rising food and energy price
inflation, three-way political
coalition discord, and the
war in Ukraine, recently
announced around $208
billion energy subsidy for
households and industry.
That announcement has
caused serious concern in
Brussels and other European
capitals. France, in particu-
lar, is deeply unhappy, and
Germany’s actions threaten
European businesses.
The subsidy will allow
German businesses an
unfair advantage over their
European competitors and,
therefore, negatively affect
the internal market.
French diplomats have said
that they feel Germany is
throwing its weight around
and taking decisions that
are sometimes against
French interests.
French officials say they
worry that the multi-billion
dollar German plan could
distort the European market
because other countries do
not have the same means
to protect their citizens.
The German initiative has
also highlighted the divide
between wealthy EU coun-
tries that can afford new
loans while cash-strapped
EU governments are des-
perately looking for sources
of funding.
Defence procurements
Another point of serious
concern and German uni-
lateralism is how Europe is
looking to defend itself in the
face of Russian missile
threats.
Missile strikes across Ukraine
have sent waves of panic
throughout the region, with
many countries hurriedly
making plans to spruce up
their own air defences.
At a recent NATO meeting, a
German-led network of 14
countries signed a deal on a
new air defence system
called the European Sky
Shield Initiative. This is where
the total and absolute fall-
out of French-German rela-
tions come to rest. The
initiative, which aims to
create a joint air defence
programme on the conti-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
nent, does not include
France.
The shield will comprise
German, American and
Israeli systems, greatly
annoying the French, who
have long advocated the
idea of ‘European sover-
eignty’.
France is already develop-
ing its own air missile
defence shield together with
Italy, but Germany’s unilat-
eral approach indicates the
forming of smaller military
huddles within Europe.
Rising China
Last year, both the EU and
the German leadership
signalled the rise of China as
a global superpower, along-
side the US. This has led the
EU to sculpt its own relation-
ship with China in the face of
rising opposition from the
US.
Rising fresh out of Russian oil
and gas dependencies,
French policymakers have
reiterated the need for a
united front against the cre-
ation of EU-China depen-
dencies. In October 2021, a
report by the French institute
for military strategy, IRSEM,
found that “economic pres-
sures were by far one of Chi-
na’s most powerful diplo-
matic levers” in Europe.
This poses a serious prob-
lem for Germany, as China is
one of its largest trading
50
CSS Chronicles
partners and the two coun-
tries traded goods worth
nearly $260 billion last year.
So, when the Chinese came
to buy a stake in Europe’s
second-largest port in
Hamburg, Scholz rejected all
European and local con-
cerns to greenlight the sale.
In another instance, Scholz’s
trip to China with a group of
CEOs from German blue
chip companies signalled to
France that Berlin was ready
to go it alone.
That’s because Scholz had
reportedly rejected an offer
by Macron to come along to
send a signal of EU unity.
France wants to make
Europe an important geo-
political centre, but this can
only happen if France and
Germany work together to
cement themselves in a
position between the US and
China.
But Scholz is clearly opting
for protectionist measures
in favour of German busi-
nesses and not the entire EU.
Relations between European
countries have not been this
bad in decades.
Jacques-Pierre Gougeon,
an expert on Germany at a
Paris-based think tank, told
German media that the cur-
rent low in French-German
relations is very serious and
that “some smaller EU
member states, such as
Poland and the Baltic states,
are questioning (the) Fran-
co-German leadership”.
As institutional panic sets in
at Berlin, where there are
real fears that the country
will run out of gas this winter,
business insolvencies are on
average 30 percent higher,
and the risk of all-out war
reaching Europe is very real.
By the signs of it, Germany
could be ready to leave the
EU behind and go it alone.
Globalization’s
unstoppable march
continues apace
Published in Arab News
Remember the demise of
globalization?
As the COVID-19 pandemic
wreaked havoc on the
global economy and
US-China tensions soared,
many a commentator trot-
ted out a “globalization is
dying” narrative, claiming
that the dizzying flow of
goods, services, people,
capital and ideas that
define our world would soon
be confined to history.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
and the associated geopo-
litical fracturing added to
the chorus. However, the
reality is that globalization is
neither dying nor in decline.
Our world is more connect-
ed than ever and, if history is
any guide, connectivity —
like time — does not move
Volume 3 | Edition 7
backwards. Yes, major
shocks like a world war or a
pandemic can slow the
clock, but eventually it
begins ticking back toward
the mean of relentless con-
nectivity.
A recent report on global
trade by the UN Conference
on Trade and Development
offered just one snapshot of
where we are headed. World
trade hit a new record of $32
trillion in 2022, it reported.
Goods trade hit $25 trillion, a
10 percent increase from
2021, and services trade
clocked in at a record $7
trillion, rising 15 percent from
the previous year.
Perhaps more importantly
than the dollar figure, the
volume of trade was up 3
percent on the year. As the
UN Conference on Trade
and Development noted,
“positive growth in the
volume of international
trade indicates resilience of
global demand.”
By now, we have all heard
the stories of the dizzying
supply chains that bring us
our coffee and tea in the
morning or the fuel and the
vehicles that transport us,
the proteins and grains that
energize us, the medicines
and vaccines that heal us,
and so much more. The
global shipping revolution is
why Europeans wear fast
fashion shirts made in Ban-
gladesh, Africans and Arabs
51
CSS Chronicles
swipe for information on
their smartphones, and soy-
beans from Brazil nourish
livestock in China.
We should still marvel at our
interconnected world of
trade, but we should not use
it as the only marker for glo-
balization. What about
people flows? Before the
pandemic, the air travel
industry recorded more
than a billion international
passengers. According to
the International Air Travel
Association, we are now
back at about 75 percent of
the pre-pandemic peak.
Airlines are on track to be
profitable again in 2023.
Global wanderlust is hard to
contain.
As for global migration, we
have witnessed a steady
rise in numbers over the
past few decades, hitting
some 281 million people
classified as international
migrants worldwide,
according to the Interna-
tional Organization for
Migration. While this is still a
modest percentage of the
world population, the fact of
the matter is that migration
has emerged as a key
option toward upward mo-
bility in many parts of the
developing world.
As for global capital flows,
they remain resilient and
strong, according to
research by the Brookings
Institution. These include
everything from public stock
market purchases to inter-
national debt issuance to
foreign direct investment.
Today, with the swipe of a
finger, we can buy shares in
everything from a Chilean
copper mine to a Chinese
electric vehicle maker. Stock
markets worldwide now
exceed $100 trillion in market
capitalization.
Many of the “globalization is
dying” narratives have
emerged from Western
commentators and industry
leaders. Their vision is
myopic. All they need to do
is look around. The US stock
market, the deepest and
most active in the world,
benefits from foreign inves-
tors to the tune of some $13.7
trillion in holdings of US
equities. Those foreign hold-
ings account for nearly 30
percent of the entire US
stock market capitalization.
What is more, the US Inter-
national Trade Administra-
tion estimates that some 9
million jobs are supported
by American exports. Mean-
while, the US Commerce
Department notes that 16
million jobs — 10 percent of
total US employment — is
“directly or indirectly attrib-
utable to foreign direct
investment.” If you are keep-
ing count, that is 25 million
jobs in the US owing to glo-
balization.
As for the rest of the world,
Volume 3 | Edition 7
they never got the memo
that “globalization is dying.”
In fact, by the looks of it,
governments and people
across Africa, Asia and the
Middle East — home to 75
percent of the world’s popu-
lation — are busy doing
trade deals that will fuel the
future. The African Conti-
nental Free Trade Area
agreement represents an
ambitious vision for conti-
nent-wide trade. While
many bumps in the road
remain, it sets an important
marker. Meanwhile, the
Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership, a
mostly Asia-wide multilat-
eral trade deal, brings
together 15 countries repre-
senting about 31 percent of
global gross domestic prod-
uct.
The Middle East and North
Africa region benefits from
strategic geography as a
crossroads of trade flows
between east and west,
while also serving as a
major source of the world’s
energy and surplus capital
that powers globalization.
The UAE has been busy strik-
ing new bilateral trade deals
with India, Israel and Indo-
nesia, with more in the
works. The UAE, in many
ways, sits at the intersection
of globalization, both as a
recipient of its flows of
goods, people, capital and
services, as well as a cata-
lyst of its growth as an
investor, trader and enabler
52
CSS Chronicles
of connectivity via its avia-
tion and shipping hubs.
Saudi Arabia is leveraging
its geoeconomic potential
through a series of reforms
that are connecting the
Kingdom to the world in
ways unimaginable a few
years ago. Simply put, the
countries that leverage con-
nectivity will succeed, while
those that do not will fall
behind.
In the end, the pandemic
demonstrated that even the
most dramatic shock to our
systems cannot dislodge
the relentless flows that
make up globalization.
Don’t disrupt
democracy
Published in Dawn
SPECULATION and discus-
sions regarding a techno-
cratic government, with an
extended tenure of two to
three years to extricate the
economy from its woes, are
rife.
The proposal is flawed on
several grounds and must
be discarded. First, any
extra-constitutional move,
even if endorsed by the
higher judiciary, would, in
the absence of support from
the main political parties,
face serious difficulties in
enforcing unpopular
reforms. Street protests
against and media censure
of higher energy prices, tax-
ation of traders and
retrenchment of workers in
SOEs would exacerbate
economic instability.
Second, given global eco-
nomic conditions and the
extent of domestic shocks, it
is not certain that a techno-
cratic government would
turn the economy around in
such a short span of time.
Third, the inspiration for this
model, drawn from the eco-
nomic progress made under
Gens Ayub, Yahya, Zia and
Musharraf, is half-baked; a
comprehensive approach
reveals that the costs and
damages incurred far
exceed the economic bene-
fits. Notions regarding the
economic performance of
the 1960s, 1980s and
2000-2007 are based on the
premise that these regimes
were not looking for popular
electoral support and, thus,
could take tough, unpopular
decisions to reignite the
economy. The truth is that
each of the four regimes
sought legitimacy in differ-
ent ways but were unable to
secure it.
The collateral damage
inflicted by extra-constitu-
tional governments have
weakened the foundation of
the state and led to adver-
sarial relations between
various institutions of gover-
nance. The separation of
Volume 3 | Edition 7
East Pakistan in 1971 can be
ascribed to the policies and
practices pursued by Ayub
and Yahya. Zia’s period saw
the rise of religious funda-
mentalism. Musharraf’s
reforms were reversed as
soon as his government
went.
Ayub Khan introduced the
system of Basic Democra-
cies, which served as an
electoral college for his
election as president. East
Pakistanis were deprived of
their right to majority rule by
the principle of parity. The
presidential form of govern-
ment concentrated powers
and decision-making in the
hands of one person, gener-
ating disaffection in the
people of the majority prov-
ince as they weren’t repre-
sented in the corridors of
power. Under authoritarian
rule, compromises that
define a democratic set-up
and address genuine public
grievances are always
missing. Such compromises
and dialogue could have
kept the federation intact.
Ayub’s economic reforms
were discarded by the
incoming government.
Yahya’s fatal mistake of not
letting the elected majori-
ty-party leader assume the
office of prime minister forti-
fied the belief that remain-
ing with West Pakistan
would be detrimental to East
Pakistanis’ interests. Inimical
external forces took advan-
53
CSS Chronicles
tage of the popular resent-
ment and intervened to
break up the country. Under
a democratic system, the
transition would have been
smooth and the need for
military action wouldn’t
have arisen.
Zia, after overthrowing an
elected government, intro-
duced an electoral system
in which individuals, rather
than political parties, were
allowed to participate. The
Majlis-i-Shoora and cabinet
remained subservient to the
president’s all-encompass-
ing powers. He couldn’t even
tolerate his own handpicked
PM and dismissed him
unceremoniously. The tradi-
tion of horse-trading among
elected legislators can be
traced to this ascendancy of
the individual over the party.
Trying to gain legitimacy, Zia
used the religious card,
which created schisms in
society and spread sectari-
anism, extremism, intoler-
ance — a legacy that dogs
the country even today.
President Musharraf in his
first three years did bring
about some fundamental
changes, such as the Police
Order and a local govern-
ment system to uproot the
status quo. However, once
he decided to contest elec-
tions to remain the presi-
dent, he had to ensure that
the leaders of the two major
political parties — the PML
and PPP — remained at bay.
He co-opted some mem-
bers of the two parties to
form new factions and to
contest elections with the
support of the government.
The PML-Q ruled the country
under the president’s direct
guidance. Some progressive
reforms, such as the Police
Order and LG system, were
diluted at the behest of the
four provinces’ chief minis-
ters. The soft regime that
emerged after 2004 was no
different in its practices from
traditional political ways in
Pakistan. For example, when
global fuel and food prices
escalated, the government
did not pass through the
prices to consumers and
allowed the fiscal and exter-
nal account deficits to bloat.
The incoming government
after August 2008 had to
approach the IMF for bailout.
The incoming elected gov-
ernment reversed many of
the reforms taken by the
authoritarian government:
the LG system that had suc-
cessfully delivered public
goods to the citizens was
abolished, the Police Order
was replaced by the 1861
Police Act, FBR reforms were
suspended and allocations
to higher education, science
and technology were cur-
tailed. This is inevitably the
outcome when a non-dem-
ocratic regime takes deci-
sions lacking the support of
the electorate.
This analysis of extra-con-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
stitutional regimes leads to
a sobering conclusion. While
there may be reforms, prog-
ress and prosperity under
authoritarian regimes, these
do not last long as they do
not enjoy the kind of legiti-
macy offered by democrat-
ic set-ups. These reforms
are quickly reversed and we
are back to square one. Col-
lateral damage is, on the
other hand, deep-rooted
and alters the sociocultural
texture of the country in
ways which have promoted
violence, factionalism,
extremism, ethnic divisions
and intolerance in society.
These non-economic fac-
tors have a huge bearing on
the continuing economic
crisis. Sustained and inclu-
sive economic growth is not
possible in an environment
where the law and order
situation remains precari-
ous, social capital and trust
are missing, individual
greed and parochial inter-
ests are paramount, and the
elites have captured the
steering wheels of both
polity and economy.
A technocratic government
would not be able to come
to grips with these funda-
mental distortions and chal-
lenges in two to three years’
time; only a series of directly
elected governments enjoy-
ing popular electoral sup-
port would have a relatively
better chance to do some-
thing about it. Politics is the
art of discussion, debate
54
CSS Chronicles
and making compromises
in the larger national inter-
est. Both the treasury
benches and the opposition
have a responsibility to
make it work. Differences in
policies, views and stances
should not deter them from
talking to each other and
evolving a consensus on
removing the major con-
straints facing the economy.
Parliamentary committees,
parliament, the Council of
Common Interests, the
National Security Commit-
tee and the National Eco-
nomic Council are the
instruments to be utilised for
this purpose. Other electoral
reforms, including the
parameters for account-
ability, should be ingrained
into the law and practices.
Informal and private
behaviour and public pro-
nouncements make a sub-
stantial difference in the
nurturing of democratic
governance. Tolerance and
forbearance are tools which
should be adopted in
restoring the supremacy of
democracy in the country.
Reset the resolve
Published in The Nation
As the new year starts, many
of us have made resolutions
for the new year ahead. ‘I will
start working out; I need to
work on my relationship; I
want to quit smoking.’ The
list goes on. I wonder what
motivates us to make these
resolutions at the beginning
of a year. What inspires us to
make these promises, and
what does the timing of
these decisions mean for
us? Partly I believe that we
are creatures of habit and
inherently like to follow most
trends. There is a sense of
safety in adapting to the rule
of the majority, and only a
few will reject the norm.
Social media is evidence of
how we follow whatever is
the current flavour of the
month, and most of us don’t
even chew new ideas and
impulsively act on them
even if they don’t resonate
with us.
We are all work in progress,
and we try our best to sur-
vive to the best of our
potential, which is challeng-
ing in one way or another.
We all have our battles and
struggles. We fall, and we
get up. We keep trying even
when it looks like we are not
trying. I often hear people
commenting, ‘only if you
would try harder’ without
appreciating that someone
who seems stationary is still
trying their best to move
within.
So, all of us, in our way and
timing, like to make resolu-
tions relevant to our life sto-
ries. We are inherently born
with the desire to self-actu-
alise, meet our potential,
and aspire for that.
Volume 3 | Edition 7
So why the new year? I
understand this as a reset
button that we want to use;
to have a clean slate on
which we can re-write our
story. Making a resolution at
the start of the year seems
like a fantasy of having
another chance to stand at
the starting point of the
marathon of life. We want to
believe that if we had the
opportunity to run again
from the beginning, there
would be something differ-
ent; a new hope, a new
promise of a chance to suc-
ceed contrary to the failure
before. It’s almost like there
is a wishful need to delete
the remnants of the unful-
filled goals from the year
early, and a new year seems
like the light that will bright-
en and infuse relentless
energy into the self to
achieve new heights.
It is also about controlling
outcomes by desiring and
planning for a promising
future. The challenge of
keeping a resolution is that it
could be more realistic.
Why? The way this resolution
is made in the new year
seems like a grand gesture
that expects this promise to
be kept for the rest of the
year. Yes, we can have goals
that we want to work
towards, but we don’t have
to associate them with a
new beginning that, for us,
almost sounds like, ‘Can we
have one more chance,’
rooted in the shame of prior
55
CSS Chronicles
failures that one has experi-
enced. Inadvertently, it will
set us up for failure and
means that we do not
accept or forgive ourselves
for not meeting our goals.
We cannot change until we
accept ourselves, however,
or wherever we are within us.
So start the new year by
accepting yourself. Honour
your struggles and strength
in surviving this world day in
and out. Aspire for goals,
whatever that may be but
start with first accepting
that you have done the best
you could for yourself, and
from that moment, aim as
high as you like to. If you
want to stay steadfast in
your actions and reach the
milestone, reset your resolu-
tion as often as you need to.
You don’t have to wait for a
new year for that. Get up
whenever you fall and
remember that we have to
drown a few times before we
learn how to swim.
Let this year be about
acceptance and resetting
your resolutions as often as
you like.
2023: hopes
and fears
Published in The Express
Tribune
For Pakistan, 2022 was an
arduous year — perhaps
one of the worst in its tumul-
tuous history. The economy
was in a shambles, teetering
on default and at the mercy
of IMF, with the leadership
looking toward benefactors
like China and Saudi Arabia
for assistance. The new
finance minister, to reassure
a demoralised public that
has suffered due to gallop-
ing inflation, tries to recall his
past achievements for lifting
Pakistan out of economic
quagmires in 1998, 2008 and
2013. If these are our stan-
dards and supposedly
national achievements that
we aspire for then we are
merely trying to stay afloat.
We need to reassess our
goals and raise our expec-
tations to stay relevant in a
highly competitive global
environment. Indeed, it
would be a challenge to
come out of the present
financial crisis and the gov-
ernment could take credit in
case it is fully realised, but it
should not be our high point
and zenith. A country of over
220 million people that are
industrious, well-meaning
and bestowed with distinct
geostrategic advantage
should aspire and deserve
far more.
In 2022, politics was even
worse. It was highly inimical,
mostly conducted on
streets, and parliament was
being deliberately ignored,
especially by the PTI. The
threat of Imran Khan that his
party MNAs resign from a
dysfunctional parliament
kept looming until the close
Volume 3 | Edition 7
of the year. The PDM kept
hanging to power at the
federal level with a feeble
coalition government that is
no position to take hard
decisions that the country
needs in order to recover
from the current slide.
In Punjab, the shrewd Chief
Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz
Elahi, while interested in
staying on the right side of
the Army leadership by
maintaining his links with
them, was also able to retain
support of Imran Khan. The
balancing act was no easy
task that at times seemed
falling apart but eventually
Elahi decided to dissolve the
provincial assembly to con-
form to Khan’s wishes.
Meanwhile, the federal and
provincial governments
struggling to survive were
not in a position to under-
take any serious develop-
ment projects or improve
the economy whilst the
regional countries and the
world moved ahead.
In the last few years, the
Army’s involvement and
dominance in politics, econ-
omy and strategic deci-
sion-making was at its peak.
It was ironical on the part of
the retiring chief, General
Qamar Javed Bajwa, to
advise his successor that
the Army be kept out of poli-
tics, having himself been
deeply involved during his
long tenure. In all probability,
General Asim Munir will opt
for less interference and
56
CSS Chronicles
involvement in civil matters
but this would be his prefer-
ence and policy and not on
the basis of any advice from
his predecessor. The
unprecedented corruption
attributed to General Bajwa
has shaken the confidence
in top leadership and raises
serious questions regarding
the accountability process
of the military that demand
a serious review. Any laxity in
this not only has serious
consequences for a the Afghan Taliban govern-
cash-starved country but
also the very competence of
top leadership.
To place Pakistan on the
right course in 2023 amidst
such enormous challenges
would be no easy task,
especially when everything
seems to be falling apart.
First and foremost, the pres-
ent interim coalition govern-
ment does not have the
intrinsic public support and
is in no position to deal
holistically with the prob-
lems the country is facing.
The ruling coalition has
diverse interests and if they
take difficult decisions of
following the script for eco-
nomic recovery, which the
situation demands, their
partners may fallout. It
would not be surprising that
if the finance minister devi-
ated from the script of the
IMF, release of tranches will
be withheld.
As though these challenges
are not overwhelming and
taxing the government to its
limits, the security situation
has taken a turn for the
worse with TTP on a major
offensive. It is trying to
establish its writ in certain
parts of the former tribal belt
and in Swat. Its demand for
the formation of an Islamic
emirate in parts of Khy-
ber-Pakhtunkhwa and
Balochistan are a direct
threat to the integrity of the
state. What makes the situ-
ation rather serious is that
ment considers the TTP its
close ally and has given it
freedom to operate in
Afghanistan from where it is
launching attacks on Paki-
stan. In the past the military
and civilian leadership had
given much leeway to the
TTP allowing it to exploit the
state’s weakness. These pol-
icies will have to be reversed
and major offensive has to
be launched as was done in
2014. The government has to
demonstrate that it can
handle terrorism effectively
while being open and dem-
ocratic, otherwise it could
give rise to extremism. All
these policies need a broad
consensus. It does not serve
the national interest when
the PML-N policy of dealing
with TTP is publicly run down
by the PTI.
Moreover, the government,
in consultation with the
opposition, needs to seri-
ously examine credibility of
the national decision-mak-
ing process. With respect to
security issues, it was the
Volume 3 | Edition 7
military leadership that has
been taking decisions. The
military input is essential
and must be given due
weightage but there are
other political and econom-
ic consideration that should
be major factors in deci-
sion-making. Most of
Balochistan and the area of
erstwhile FATA, now inte-
grated with K-P, have
remained neglected for
years as a consequence of
which its economy and
political development has
been adversely affected,
creating deep resentment in
public and giving rise to
separatist movements.
Involving the political lead-
ership and people of
Balochistan and K-P in
development of their areas
is not only a democratic
compulsion but also essen-
tial for fully integrating these
areas in the mainstream.
Any neglect would further
encourage fissiparous ten-
dencies. Giving due
weightage to the political
culture and traditions of
Balochistan and tribal parts
of K-P is important while
raising the economic and
educational standards of its
people.
The present government
obviously is not in a position
to focus on these
wide-ranging reforms. This
adds to the urgency that
elections be held soon so
that national issues are
addressed seriously.
57
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BOOK REVIEW

59
AID, POLITICS, AND THE WAR OF NARRATIVES
IN THE US-PAKISTAN RELATIONS
A Case Study of Kerry Lugar Berman Act
Shahzad Akram
This book analyses the aid, politics, and the war of narratives between
the US and Pakistan under the Kerry Lugar Berman Act (2009–2013),
using the security-development nexus as a framing discourse and
taking a decolonial approach to the subject. The rationale behind this
undertaking is that the US- Pakistan relations have witnessed a roller-
coaster ride even since Pakistan came into being. Historically, the US’
interests hardly converged with that of Pakistan, rather they diverged
frequently. Both states even interpret their issues differently.

While it is a fact that Paki-
stan became a frontline ally
of the United States in the
War on Terror (WoT) in
Afghanistan, Islamabad
joined Washington only
reluctantly.
It was America’s coercive
diplomacy and Islamabad’s
apprehensions about the
potential Indian role in the
region that compelled Paki-
stan to join the US WoT.
Since 2001, US-Pakistan
bilateral relations have
been heavily securitized
and have pivoted around
the WoT in Afghanistan. It
suggests that America dis-
cussed, conceptualized,
and treated Pakistan from a
myopic neocolonial lens in
order to achieve its interests
in Afghanistan. Hussain
Nadim, in this book, thus
fleshes out the aid, politics,
and war of narratives
between the US and Paki-
stan. Importantly, Nadim
uses the security-develop-
ment as a framing dis-
course under a postcolo-
nial/de-colonial approach
to offer a fresh understand-
ing of US-Pakistan relation-
ship which includes the
power dynamics and their
impact of civil-military rela-
tions in Pakistan. The core
thesis of this book is that the
security-development
nexus implemented
through KLB served as a
powerful discourse that

60
CSS Chronicles
enabled America to
advance its security and
foreign policy goals by influ-
encing Pakistan's national
security strategy and
civil-military relations, while
simultaneously enabling
local actors in Pakistan to
exert their agency.
To understand the politics of
aid and the war of narra-
tives, the author takes what
he calls a security-develop-
ment nexus – a powerful
Western policy discourse
that integrates security and
development as a tool to
achieve US foreign policy
goals in the developing
world. The basis of this
nexus is a widespread
assumption, in academic
and policy literature, that
security and development
move in cahoots and that
poverty and underdevelop-
ment in the developing
countries pose a direct
threat to the security of
developed Western states.
Some key assumptions of
the nexus include: ‘security
and development go hand
in hand’ and therefore,
‘there can be no security
without development and
no development without
security’; that a more
‘secure world is only possi-
ble if poor countries are
given a real chance to
develop’; that ‘intervention
in underdeveloped states,
based on the security-de-
velopment nexus, is mutu-
ally beneficial for both
donor and recipient coun-
tries and can deliver results
on the ground.’ Nadim notes
that security and develop-
ment are woven inextricably
to the point of becoming a
dominant discourse in
developed states in the
Global North who donate
large sums of money to the
underdeveloped con-
flict-ridden states in the
Global South. The nexus,
although appears harmless
for the recipients, has creat-
ed its fair share of problems
because it is a Western
policy construct which has
gradually arisen from an
inherent confirmation bias
of the West. Besides, it man-
ifests a deep neocolonial
political tendency of the
Western states who seek to
manage, control, oversee,
and influence the internal
affairs of the poor recipient
states.
Through the prism of securi-
ty and development going
hand in glove, Western
powers harbor a reduction-
ist conceptualization of the
developing and the under-
developed world. The rea-
sons for this, according to
Nadim, are the ease of
developing policies regard-
ing military and economic
aid as well as it becomes
easier to market it to the
Western ears. Arguing that
by providing development
aid to the poor countries
Volume 3 | Edition 7
(the other’), their security
will increase, and, in turn,
the West will be more
secure, is easy and effec-
tive. Such a simplistic
understanding of the ‘other’
proves instrumental in pro-
viding legitimacy to directly
intervene and indirectly
control the internal affairs of
underdeveloped states.
Moreover, it gives great
leeway to Western donor
states to pursue their
short-term security needs
by undertaking the political,
social, and behavioral engi-
neering in the targeted
recipient states with an
agenda of ‘nation-building.’
Against this backdrop, the
passage of KLB Act by the
American Congress had
been a direct enactment of
the security-development
nexus upon Pakistan. This
Act, as the author has
established in the book, was
designed to serve the secu-
rity of foreign policy goals of
the United States in Pakistan
and the whole regional at
large. America (re)concep-
tualized Pakistan according
to its reductionist perspec-
tive and with a narrow view
of its strategic policy needs.
After that, it attempted,
through KLB, to systemati-
cally reengineer Pakistan’s
behavior on democracy
and national security.
In 2011, abduction of a
development aid worker
named Warren Weinstein by
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CSS Chronicles
AlQaeda and the killing of
Osama bin Laden by the US
in Pakistan took place after
which two things happened.
A diplomatic crisis between
Pakistan and the United
States ensued and a critical
fallout between the civil and
military actors in Pakistan.
The civilian leaders blamed
the military for this security
lapse while the military
leaders charged that the
civilian leadership colluded
with the United States. The
diplomatic crisis between
the United States and Paki-
stan in 2011 and the
civil-military tension in Paki-
stan were not unexpected; it
had been brewing ever
since the United States
passed the Kerry Lugar
Berman Act (KLB)
i.e., two years earlier. Under
the KLB, the US committed to
provide $7.5 billion over five
years in development aid to
Pakistan and to the NGOs on
the ground, like USAID, that
were working for the
socio-economic develop-
ment of the country. The
reaction to the KLB Act
varied across civilian and
military leadership.
The civilian government
headed by Pakistan Peo-
ple’s Party (PPP) accepted
KLB and dubbed it a pro-de-
mocracy bill while the mili-
tary leadership resented it. It
is because the Pakistan
Army (as well as the oppo-
sition political parties such
as the PML-N, PML-Q, and
JUI-F) saw this assistance
under the KLB as an attempt
to sabotage it as an institu-
tion and, in this way, influ-
ence the national security
policy of Pakistan, under the
guise of development assis-
tance and democracy pro-
motion. For example,
through KLB’s stringent
terms and conditions,
America put the responsi-
bility and the blame of its
failure in the war on terror-
ism on Pakistan, both at
policy execution and the
narrative levels. Through
these conditions, not only
was the negative narrative
about Pakistan legitimized
but also reinforced as policy
. emergencylike situation by
Moreover, America recon-
figured Pakistan's geo-
graphical cartography by
lumping it with Afghanistan
in what is termed AfPak
thereby moving Pakistan
away from South Asia. The
immediate result was a
surge in terrorist attacks in
Pakistan but a drop in busi-
ness, tourism, investor con-
fidence and capital flight
resulting in a dip in country’s
GDP. Pakistan GDP’s growth
rate was 5% in 2007 but
dropped to 1.7% in 2008, and
0.36% in 2009. After doing
so, the US applied the “win-
ning hearts and minds”
strategy to sway public
opinion in its favor by sup-
porting NGOs, media out-
Volume 3 | Edition 7
lets, and religious groups.
Nevertheless, Pakistan was
never a passive bystander
in all this and actively
co-produced American
narrative of itself. That is
why, despite all the outrage
over KLB, Pakistan, especial-
ly its military, accepted it.
The security establishment
in Pakistan was highly criti-
cal of the KLB and viewed it
as an attack on national
security and sovereignty of
Pakistan. However, it still
accepted KLB in order to
pursue its strategic inter-
ests. Hence Pakistan exerted
its agency from a position of
relative weakness. It trans-
pired in two ways. Firstly,
Pakistan helped create an
using the narrative that it is
a weak state with large
nuclear arsenal, raising the
stakes for America and the
rest of the world to get
involved in Pakistan's
longterm development and
security requirements
through programs like KLB.
Secondly, by becoming the
most-allied ally of America
on WoT, Pakistan quietly
modernized its armed
forces and military technol-
ogy in preparation for the
greater threats of civil war in
Afghanistan and Indian
aggression. In the same
vein, Pakistan was able to
implement its long-term
policy of fencing the
Afghan-Pakistan border
62
CSS Chronicles
and pursuing its Kashmir
policy with India with the
assurance that America
would intervene to protect
Pakistan from Indian
aggression. This was made
possible by having America
dependent on Pakistan’s
support in the fight against
terrorism. In this way, Paki-
stan asserted its agency
while co-producing the
nexus.
Pakistan Army also viewed
the aid under KLB as an
American attempt to influ-
ence civil-military relations
so that the civilian leader-
ship can subdue the military
authorities. The reasons of
this inference are as follows:
first, frustrated with the
Pakistan Army due to its
‘double game’ in Afghani-
stan and the shift in political
situation of both Pakistan
and America, the American
narrative on Pakistan
changed; second, KLB’s
terms explicitly stated the
need for civilian control and
supremacy over military,
thus igniting a narrative war
between the US and Paki-
stan as well as between civil
and military actors in the
latter; and third, America
directly funded NGOs and
INGOs through domestic
disorder both discursively
and on ground so as to
force a power shift in the
country.
However, Pakistan’s govern-
ment also exerted its
agency in its relationship
with the United States man-
ifested in the provisions of
the KLB Act. The PPP govern-
ment exerted itself by
co-producing KLB and then
utilizing it to established
civilian supremacy in Paki-
stan. For example, Benazir
Bhutto in her speeches and
articles staunchly support-
ed civilian control of the mil-
itary before her death in
December 2007. Later, her
husband, Asif Ali Zardari,
while serving as the Presi-
dent of Pakistan, negotiated
the terms of the KLB Act with
Senator Biden and his team.
When KLB came out, the
provisions of civilian control
of the military were added
which suggest that the gov-
ernment exerted its agency
in the process.
This book gives a fresh
understanding of US-Paki-
stan relations and is thus
important in that regard. Its
findings are significant
because they have demon-
strated that foreign aid
under KLB sparked a dialec-
tical power struggle
between Pakistan and the
US and between local
actors in the former. These
actors utilized the indivisi-
bility of security and devel-
opment in order to further
their vested interests –
Volume 3 | Edition 7
essentially the politics of
aid. Through this book, Hus-
sain Nadim views Pakistan
and the US as reluctant
allies, perhaps reluctant
enemies, as they seldom
tried to build upon their
potential strengths, but they
largely focused on each
other’s vulnerabilities.
Nadim, sanguinely, notes
that the root cause of the
US’ failure in Afghanistan
and Pakistan is the
deep-rooted Western cen-
trism and the scarcity of any
serious intellectual expertise
by American scholars or
policymakers on the devel-
oping world. Based upon
this, he predicts that the US
will also fail in China. He
hopes that this work will
prove to be an
evidence-based study for
academics, think tanks, and
the policy community in
both Pakistan and the US
who may break free from
the confirmation biases and
delve deep into the true
nature of this bilateral rela-
tionship. The evolution of
respectable relations will
help mitigate and clientele
style of engagement and
might prove mutually bene-
ficial for both states. Cordial
relations with the US might
put Pakistan, being ruled by
extractive ruling elite for
decades, on the path of
functional democracy and
true sovereignty.
63
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 CSS | CHRONICLES VOLUME 3 EDITION 7

MCQS COMPILATION

65
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

Current Affairs
1. In October 2022, ruling party of which 6. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to
country rejected the independence of be held in
Taiwan in its constitution? (A) France
(A) China (B) England
(B) Japan (C) Qatar
(C) Russia (D) Argentina
(D) United States
7. Who is the current foreign minister of
2. The Sea of Azov is bounded by which of China?
the following two countries? (A) Li Keqiang
(A) Ukraine and Russia (B) Qi Yu
(B) Georgia and Russia (C) Zhang Zhijun
(C) Romania and Azerbaijan (D) Wang Yi
(D) Canada and United States
8. The current US president Joe Biden has
3. Which of the following country is NOT a also served as ________ of the United
member of Quadrilateral Security States.
Dialogue (QSD or QUAD)? (A) director CIA
(A) Australia (B) speaker
(B) India (C) secretary state
(C) Japan (D) vice president
(D) United Kingdom
9. The working capital of the European
4. Who is the current President of Iran? Union is
(A) Ahmadinejad (A) Berlin
(B) Hassan Rouhani (B) Brussels
(C) Muhammad Khatami (C) Lisbon
(D) Ebrahim Raisi (D) Paris

5. “Airbnb” is an American ________ 10. The Winter Olympics 2022 games were
company. held in
(A) transportation (A) China
(B) tire manufacturing (B) Japan
(C) pharmaceutical (C) Russia
(D) home-rental (D) South Korea

66
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

Pakistan Affairs
1. Who is the current federal minister of 6. Currently in 2022, the estimated
finance in Pakistan? population of Pakistan is about
(A) Miftah Ismael (A) 214.8 million
(B) Ishaq Dar (B) 224.8 million
(C) Ahsan Iqbal (C) 234.8 million
(D) Khawaja Asif (D) 244.8 million

2. As of 28 September 2022, the current 7. In 2018, Pakistan’s annual GDP was $356
policy rate by the state bank of Pakistan is billion. Currently in 2022, Pakistan’s
(A) 11% annual GDP is
(B) 13% (A) $347 billion
(C) 15% (B) $357 billion
(D) 17% (C) $367 billion
(D) $377 billion
3. The next general elections in Pakistan
are scheduled to be held in 8. Who is the current chairman of National
(A) 2022 Accountability Bureau (NAB), appointed
(B) 2023 on 21 July 2022?
(C) 2024 (A) Javed Iqbal
(D) 2025 (B) Fasih Bokhari
(C) Aftab Sultan
4. IMF finally revived the stalled financing (D) Qamar Zaman Chaudhry
package for Pakistan on
(A) 25 August 2022 9. Pakistan spends majority of its foreign
(B) 27 August 2022 reserves on ________ payments.
(C) 29 August 2022 (A) food and clothing
(D) 31 August 2022 (B) defence
(C) machinery and services
5. Currently in August 2022, who is the (D) oil and gas
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of
Pakistan? 10. Pakistan economy recovered from the
(A) Ahsan Iqbal Covid19 shock as a
(B) Khawaja Asif (A) V-shaped
(C) Bilawal Bhutto (B) U-shaped
(D) Hina Rabbani Khar (C) W-shaped
(D) none of these

67
CSS Chronicles Volume 3 | Edition 7

General Science and Ability

1. The Sun’s mass is primarily consist of 6. The amount of sunlight on the surface of
hydrogen (about 73%). The second main the Earth varies because of the Earth’s
constituent of the Sun’s mass (about 25%) is (A) axial tilt
(A) argon (B) rotation
(B) nitrogen (C) revolution
(C) carbon dioxide (D) poles
(D) helium
7. About what percent of world’s freshwater
2. What play an important role in reserves are frozen in the continent of
determining the hottest temperature the Antarctica?
human body can tolerate? (A) 60%
(A) altitude (B) 70%
(B) humidity (C) 80%
(C) pollution (D) 90%
(D) type of gasses
8. What is the approximate average
3. Transformers are used to change thickness of the Earth’s continental crust?
________ voltage levels. (A) 5 miles
(A) alternating current (B) 15 miles
(B) direct current (C) 25 miles
(C) circuit (D) 35 miles
(D) none of these
9. According to the scientists, how many
4. What type of rocks are formed when galaxies are there in the universe?
continental plates collide with each other? (A) 10 million
(A) igneous rocks (B) 100 million
(B) sedimentary rocks (C) 10 billion
(C) metamorphic rocks (D) 100 billion
(D) marble and onyx
10. What is the maximum temperature that
5. Rocks formed when magma or lava the human skin can endure without getting
cools on Earth’s surface are called blisters?
(A) igneous rocks (A) 40°C
(B) sedimentary rocks (B) 60°C
(C) metamorphic rocks (C) 80°C
(D) marble and onyx (D) 100°C

68
 Current Pakistan General
MCQ
Affairs Affairs Science & Ability

1 A B D
2 A C B
3 D B A
4 D C C
5 D D A
6 C B A
7 D A B
8 D C C
9 B D D
10 A A A

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69