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Pakistan’s Coercive Afghan Diplomacy: Doomed to Failure?
The employment of military force as a bargaining tool, or the threat to use it, is an essential component of diplomacy and is now widely accepted as standard practice in statecraft. Coercive diplomacy, in particular, is a defensive strategy used to…
Pakistan’s Future with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Pakistan’s fragile ceasefire with Afghanistan frayed dramatically last month after two incidents Islamabad says were directed from across the border: a suicide bombing outside an Islamabad district court and an attempted assault on the cadet college in Wana. These attacks,…
SAV Q&A with Avinash Paliwal: India’s Realpolitik vis-à-vis the Taliban and its Regional Implications
Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a two-part conversation with Avinash Paliwal. Read the second part here. In a high-profile sign of the reversal of a decades-old policy, India for the first time hosted a Taliban official on its…
Can Conditional Engagement Spur Reform in the Taliban’s Afghanistan?
Four years into the second period of rule by the Taliban regime, Afghanistan has plummeted into economic insecurity and a human rights crisis. Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, the regime’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had claimed, “we are going…
Russia’s Recognition of the Taliban: A Power Play in South and Central Asia?
In early July, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This recognition followed an April 2025 ruling by Russia's Supreme Court to delist the Taliban as a terrorist organization. Russia's recognition signifies a major…
آزمائش کی گھڑی میں سہ طرفیت؟ پاک-افغان محرکات اور چین کا سفارتی توڑ جوڑ
بیجنگ نے حال ہی میں تیانجن (چین) میں ہونے والے شنگھائی تعاون تنظیم کے وزرائے خارجہ کے اجلاس میں افغانستان میں استحکام کی اہمیت پر زور دیا اور ملک (افغانستان) کی تعمیرِ نو اور ترقی کے لیے کثیر الجہتی کوششوں…