Current Projects
Wang Yi says South China Sea not a ‘fighting arena’ for great power games
Chinese foreign minister calls on Southeast Asian countries to resist involvement of ‘certain external powers’ in regional disputes The remarks come as military tensions with the US and its allies grow over naval exercises in the area Beijing has said the South China Sea is not a “fighting arena” for great power games and called on Southeast Asian countries to jointly resist the involvement of external powers in disputes. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday said issues in the South China Sea must be handled properly by countries in the region, which must not be a “hunting ground” for outside nations. He made the comments during a video conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), a guideline for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on handling South China Sea disputes. Wang accused “some certain external powers” of “deliberately expanding conflicts and provoking tensions, jeopardising the legitimate rights and interests of coastal countries and the normal order of the sea”. “To that, China and Asean countries should make our positions clear: if you come for peace and cooperation, we welcome you; if you come for disruption and destruction, please leave!” Wang said. Wang’s remarks came as military tensions in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, continued to grow between China and the US and its allies. Beijing has claimed most of the waters, while Taipei and Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all have overlapping claims. Mainland China has significantly strengthened its control of the region over the last two decades despite an international court’s ruling against it. The US considers the South China Sea critical to its Indo-Pacific strategy and has been conducting regular “freedom of navigation” operations and increasing naval exercises in the area – sometimes with allies from outside the region,...
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): Are new alliances a threat to the existing world order?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will be held in September among growing global concerns regarding the Ukraine war, the global commodity prices, the situation in the middle east, and a growing new alliance against the U.S. which calls for different rules of the business. The United States, being a hegemonic power, has been dictating terms of the world on trade, geopolitics and forming alliances to support/sustain that hegemony, and so on. But growing powers like China are now calling for a different mechanism for the functioning of the global order by launching their development programs and by forming alliances based on the idea of cooperation, democracy, and justice in the world, rather than that of a single country. SCO and BRICs and alternative platforms presented through which the status quo is challenged, and thus the SCO conference in September is much anticipated. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China at the beginning of February 2022 on a one-day visit to discuss global security and international relations. The joint statement was worth reading for it laid bare the case for new world order, as the statement read: “The sides [China and Russia] call on all States to …… respect the rights of peoples to independently determine the development paths of their countries and the sovereignty and the security and development interests of States, to protect the United Nations-driven international architecture and the international law-based world order”. And perhaps the most interesting part was: “Certain States’ attempts to impose their own “democratic standards” on other countries, to monopolize the right to assess the level of compliance with democratic criteria, to draw dividing lines based on the grounds of ideology, including by establishing exclusive blocs and alliances of convenience, prove to be nothing but flouting of democracy and go against the spirit and true values of democracy. Such attempts at hegemony pose serious threats...
Global Sanctions – A Chilling Effect On Afghan Infrastructure
Afghanistan has a deteriorating economy along with a hotchpotch of multifaceted perils. Food is available in Kabul marketplaces, but few people can afford it. Flour might cost as much as $30 per bag. Lack of access to bank accounts or foreign cash makes it difficult for businesses to purchase materials. Even if salaries for teachers and government employees have restarted, incomes are still lower. Cash is exchanged while selling silverware and furniture. This is Afghanistan in the months following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, the overthrow of the Afghan government, and the American withdrawal. The US and NATO-led 20-year war ended, but economic catastrophe soon followed. The western sanctions on the de facto Taliban government have made it worse for the Afghans to make both ends meet. However, the intervention of the UN in the aid processes has helped the Taliban handle state affairs to some extent. Adam Weinstein, Senior Researcher at the Quincy Institute, while speaking to Afghan Studies Center, said: Lifting sanctions is not going to resolve matters overnight. If sanctions are lifted today, we’d still be left with a landlocked country – is a crippling economy and an unattractive place for investors. Now, when I say lifting the sanctions, I mean the broad, sweeping sanctions. It might make sense to keep individual sanctions on individual Taliban figures. But, so far, as the way the sanctions work now, they were essentially intended for the Taliban as it was an insurgency, not for the Taliban as the de facto government of Afghanistan. And the effect of these sanctions has been a chilling effect on the country. “UN engages in the sanctions, but the U.S. is the leader in their application globally, and in some cases, they have been overdone. Afghanistan is the ideal illustration of a situation in which sanctions currently serve no purpose whatsoever. Due to realpolitik considerations, the Biden administration gladly collaborates with Saudi Arabia while ignoring...
The Dollar’s Strength is Weighing Down the World
The U.S. dollar's value is the strongest it has been in a generation devaluing currencies around the world and raising concerns about the future of the global economy by upending everything from the cost of international travel to the profitability of multinational companies. At a Glance: The diagram below shows how the U.S. dollar is demonstrating extraordinary strength against other global currencies this summer touching highs against the euro, the Japanese yen and others, with broad effects globally and within the United States. The chart illustrates the percentage change to July 15 from Dec. 31 of each country’s official currency versus the U.S. dollar When markets closed on 19th July in the U.S, it cost $1.02 to buy one euro, $1.20 to buy one British pound, and less than $0.01 to buy one yen. All are at or near historic lows against the dollar. The world economy is fueled by the dollar. Prior to the pandemic, it was responsible for $6 trillion in daily activity, which encompassed everything from tourists using their credit cards to companies making substantial international investments. About 90% of all transactions involving foreign exchange are made in this manner. However, as the world’s most important currency, the dollar often rises in times of turmoil, in part because investors consider it to be relatively safe and stable. Recently, it has been on a major surge against major global currencies as a result of inflation, high interest rates and deteriorating economic concerns.
ANNUAL SECURITY REPORT-2022
Casualties from Terror Attacks and Counter-Terror Operations Terrorist violence touched a new height in 2022. From 850 fatalities in 2021, the figure jumped to 980 in 2022 – indicating an over 15 percent rise in violence from as many as 512 terrorist incidents and counter-terror operations. The highest rise in violence was recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where fatalities went up from 399 in 2021 to 633 this year – a nearly 59% rise. Balochistan recorded a marginal increase of 1% in violence but it could not bring any relief to the region as it had the second-highest number of fatalities in the country. All other regions witnessed a drop in violence with Punjab, the largest province of the country, recorded a 61% drop in violence, followed by Sindh 50% down, and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) registered an 11% decline, while Gilgit Baltistan (GB) had no incident of violence this year (Table 01-A and Table 01-B). Both KP and Balochistan together suffered nearly 90 percent of all fatalities across the country, with the last month of the year i.e., December emerging as the deadliest for the security forces that lost at least 42 personnel in over two dozen attacks. Officials attributed the concentration of violence in KP and Balochistan to the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, where thousands of Pakistani militants and wanted terrorists – mostly linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) - reportedly enjoy safe havens and the necessary support for planning acts of terror in Pakistan.
CRSS Annual Security Report 2021
Introduction The Center for Research and Security Studies is pleased to release the Annual Security Report 2021. This report, compiled with the help of open-source data such as newspapers and web-based news portals, mirrors the trajectory of various forms of violence across Pakistan to help readers understand the dynamics of terrorist and extremist violence in the country , which suffered a renewed surge in violence in the latter part of 2021. Much of it was ostensibly linked to the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. They promised to deny terrorist groups such as TTP, IMU, ETIM , and ISIK the use of Afghan soil for their operations in Pakistan, Central Asia, China, and elsewhere in the region. Yet, terrorist violence spiked after August and continued to claim casualties into 2022, particularly among Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
CRSS Research 2022
Executive Summary As a long-trusted and tested political friend, China wields significant influence in, and a central position in Pakistan’s foreign relations. However, due to certain cultural barriers and fewer peopleto-people interactions, people on both sides know relatively little about one another. In an attempt to evaluate this information deficit, CRSS conducted research on common Pakistanis’ perceptions and understanding of China’s culture and history. These findings are part of the first report. Based on a survey of 300+ individuals, it was found that most of young and older people have a positive view of China and are keen on learning more about the neighboring country. However, many young individuals lack awareness of some of the key facts about China; for instance, about 26 % did not know that China has achieved major watersheds in its economic development in the past two decades. Some of the recommendations of the report are: A special curriculum on China should be included for higher secondary and lower academic levels, as most of the individuals with these backgrounds either have a neutral or illinformed perception of China; There should be independent cultural exchange programs between youth which can be beneficial in learning about Chinese culture, and vice versa; Collaboration among organizations especially think tanks and NGOs of both countries can be very advantageous. Collective research projects will help in knowledge exchange as well as capacity building of both sides while bringing academics and researchers together; Besides track 1, multi-level diplomatic efforts must be started such as track 2 and track 1.5,an area that CRSS has considerable expertise and experience in. The second report focuses on Pakistan’s dated, expensive, and time-consuming Public Procurement Regime. A sound public procurement regime ensures transparency, cost-effectiveness, and swiftness and can help public sector institutions make better financial decisions. This...
Security Report First Quarter -2022
Casualties from Violence in Pakistan During the first quarter of 2022, some 344 people lost their lives and 405 suffered injuries because of violence and counter violence incidents. About 90 % of these victims of violence were from two regions of the country: Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s border regions. Sindh and the Punjab province experienced a very marginal number of casualties (Table 01). Fatalities from Violence by Region Since last year, violence has been on the rise. The first quarter of 2022 saw a 68% rise in violence in general. The KP province witnessed 173% surge in violence, followed by Balochistan (88%) and Sindh (5%). Punjab was the only region registered a decline of 56% in violence (Table 02). Fatalities from Violence by Month After a slight decline in January, violent incidents recording a 104% rise in February and 153% in March (Table 03). This sign of a growing trend that can be attributed to the TTP’s new tactics and alliances with some Baloch separatist groups. In December last year, the TTP had refused to extend the ceasefire it had agreed with the government and weeks thereafter saw an unusual surge in violence. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid had also admitted that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had escalated its attacks in the country[1]. Fatalities from Violence by Districts Major incidents of violence took place in Peshawar, North Waziristan, Balochistan’s Kech, Quetta, Sibi, Tank, Nushki districts, and some districts of Karachi where double digit fatalities from violence were recorded. Except Karachi, all other districts are from KP and Balochistan (Table 04). Figure: Fatalities by Districts – Q4 2021 VS Q1 2022 Comparative Fatality Data on Violence/Counter-Violence A comparative review of violence and counter-violence revealed that at least 13 counter-violence operations by the security forces resulted in fatalities of 18 persons. On the other hand, six terror attacks were thwarted with timely preemptive action by the...
Cultural Similarities Can Strengthen Pak- Afghan Regional Economic Connectivity
Being neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan do not only share a border but also have a common civilization, history, religion, and culture. People from both countries are connected through social values, norms, language, traditions, and religion. These commonalities can be used to benefit both the countries’ economies by promoting trade and tourism. CRSS spoke to cultural experts on both sides to get an insight into what cultural items could help in boosting trade on both sides.
Medical Tourism: an Impetus for Pak-Afghan Economic Connectivity
Medical tourism is a fast-growing industry globally, especially in the South Asian region. Poor healthcare facilities and the unavailability of certain technologies and expertise in Afghanistan have created an income stream for neighboring countries as Afghans cross their borders for medical treatments. Pakistan has generally been the most popular destination of Afghan medical tourists, at times accounting for around 90 percent of treatment-seeking visits. https://youtu.be/BRxNlhCHHV0
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.