Pakistan
A Quest for Relevance
Since Kabul’s fall, Pakistan has struggled to maintain strategic relevance and its attempts to reengage the U.S. have been largely unsuccessful. Domestic political turmoil, the popularity of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and a rise in militant attacks have complicated this engagement, as have the country’s ties with China.
A Glacial Threat
With over 7,200 dotting its three mountain ranges — the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram and the Himalayas — Pakistan is home to the most glaciers outside the polar regions. Due to climate change, they are melting rapidly, creating unique challenges.
Horror Films Help Pakistanis Process Modern-Day Anxieties
In recent times, both Pakistani cinema and TV have been experimenting with horror, trying to address the complexities of living in modern-day Pakistan, such as the rising discourse about feminism, the fear of Western influences, the evolution of the family system, and the role of religion in everyday life.
Globally, a Waning Gun Culture: Is It a Lesson for America?
As I grew up in Pakistan in the 1980s, gun culture was a big deal, as large a presence in society as it is in America. Guns were to men what jewelry was to women. It took the emergence of a real threat to change Pakistan. Can America similarly adapt?
The Politics of Storytelling — with Fatima Bhutto
Acclaimed Pakistani novelist Fatima Bhutto joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai for a wide-ranging conversation about the relationship between politics and fiction. They discuss why she decided to be a writer rather than a politician like her aunt Benazir Bhutto, why the CIA has a department for script writers and why people increasingly identify more with stories from outside the West like “Squid Game” than with “Friends.”
Despite Turkey’s Tough Stance, Afghan Refugees Flood In
People smuggling is big business. According to government officials in Van province, 1,262 smugglers have been arrested in the area this year, the majority of them from Turkey. Now there are fears that the situation for Afghan migrants is nearing a tipping point that will make it harder and more dangerous for new arrivals hoping to get to Europe.
The Special Units Leading the Taliban’s Fight against the Islamic State
The Taliban sensed an opportunity. Eager to win more public support for their insurgency and desperate to prevent the Islamic State from making further inroads into their territory, they decided to escalate the fight against the group.