THE CONFLICT BETWEEN IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES HAS A LONG WAX AND WANE PERIOD AS THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN CLAMOROUS FOR DECADES AND THE FUTURE OF THESE RELATIONS DEPENDS UPON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S NEW IRAN STRATEGY AND IRAN’S INTERNAL CHALLENGES.

AS PAKISTAN FIGHTS TO CURTAIL CORRUPTION, THE GOVERNMENT CAN LOOK TOWARD CHINA AND INDIA FOR ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICIES

INDIA’S TOUGH EXPERIENCE IN POST-1989 AFGHANISTAN COULD HOLD LESSONS FOR WEATHERING A U.S. TROOP WITHDRAWAL

AN ATTACK ON A LUXURY HOTEL IN THE HEART OF GWADAR PROVES THAT PAKISTAN’S MILITARY-CENTRIC APPROACH IS FAILING

THE RISE OF TENSIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN IS THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF A HIGH-LEVEL MILITARY CONFRONTATION BETWEEN SCO MEMBERS AND DIRECTLY CHALLENGES SCO HARMONY AND STABILITY

WHITE SUPREMACY AND HINDU NATIONALISM HAVE COMMON ROOTS GOING BACK TO THE 19TH-CENTURY IDEA OF THE ‘ARYAN RACE’

THIS ARTICLE OFFERS A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEBATE BETWEEN FREE-TRADE AND PROTECTIONISM, DEMONSTRATING HOW NARRATIVES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DEBATE HAVE CONSTRUCTED A WORLD OF BINARIES. THOSE WHO IDENTIFY AS PROTECTIONISTS, FOR INSTANCE, HAVE CREATED A FALSE DICHOTOMY OF ‘US’ VERSUS ‘THEM,’ WHILE SELF-STYLED FREE-TRADERS HAVE CRAFTED NARRATIVES OF ‘RATIONAL’ AND ‘IRRATIONAL’ ECONOMIC POLICY THAT OVERLOOKS ASYMMETRIC POWER RELATIONS

AS AN IDEOLOGY, HINDU NATIONALISM IS NOT EVEN 100 YEARS OLD-BUT IT HAS DRAMATICALLY RESHAPED POLITICS IN INDIA, WITH NARENDRA MODI’S HELP

WHAT CAN A STUDY OF PRO-BJP WHATSAPP GROUPS TELL US ABOUT THE PARTY’S CULPABILITY IN RISING ISLAMOPHOBIA?

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME. THIS ADAGE CAPTURES MUCH ABOUT STATE POLICY IN PAKISTAN, BUT PERHAPS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ‘REFORM’ MOST OF ALL.

HERE’S ONE: WILL THE US AND IRAN GO TO WAR?

FITCH, A GLOBAL CREDIT RATING AGENCY HAS RECENTLY DOWNGRADED PAKISTAN’S LONG-TERM FOREIGN CURRENCY ISSUER DEFAULT RATING BY ONE NOTCH, FROM B TO B- (B MINUS) ON HEIGHTED EXTERNAL FINANCING RISK, AND INCREASED FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENTS

THE GOVERNMENT GETS HUGE FOREIGN CURRENCY BECAUSE OF FOREIGN REMITTANCE. THE FOREIGN REMITTANCE INCOME IS NOT ONLY INCREASING FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVE BUT IS ALSO PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE TO REDUCE POVERTY AND TO ENHANCE THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PAKISTAN

WAS KING GEORGE III − THE HANOVERIAN WHO WAS ONCE DUBBED ‘FARMER GEORGE’ BY WRITERS OF HIS TIME TO MOCK HIS KEENNESS IN MUNDANE MATTERS RATHER THAN POLITICS − REALLY MAD? IF YES, CAN MODERN MEDICINE HELP FIND OUT THE REAL REASONS BEHIND HIS BIZARRE BEHAVIOUR?

YOU WOULD NEVER EXPECT THE RATIONALIST IMMANUEL KANT TO SPARK A SQUABBLING. MAYBE GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL WAS INVOLVED?

LIFE

YOU THINK IT, I SPEAK IT … IN ONE WAY THOUGH REPORTED SPEECH CAN BE AT TIMES TROUBLESOME, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO A REPORTER TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT A POLITICIAN IS BRAGGING ABOUT

THE STRENGTH OF OUR PLANET’S GREENHOUSE EFFECT IS ENSURED BY THE CONCENTRATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF RASCALS OF EVERY GAS SORT

OUR MAN WHO ONCE SPENT TIME IN INDIA OPENS UP OUR INDIA FACTFILE AND THAT OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU WHOSE BIG DAD’S REPORT GAVE INDIANS A FRESH DOMINION STATUS

WHAT HAS THIS DONE FOR US?

THE KIPS ON A CLAN WHOSE EMPIRE TURNED INTO TODAY’S INDIA

I’M THE GUY WHO DOES HIS JOB. YOU MUST BE THE OTHER GUY

SHOW YOUR PACES THE KIPS BUREAU’S JUNE SIZZLING QUIZ IS PAVED WITH A TINY PILE OF QUESTIONS SET ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (‘ECONOMIC & POLITICAL DOCTRINES’), GENERAL SCIENCE (‘SOLAR SYSTEM’), ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (‘ATMOSPHERE & GREENHOUSE EFFECT’), SOCIOLOGY (‘SOCIETY & MARITAL MATTERS’) AND PHILOSOPHY (‘GREEK PHILOSOPHERS’)