The death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the early hours of May 2, 2011, has several noteworthy implications worldwide. The US can claim a very important symbolic victory in the ‘War on Terror’ (admittedly a phrase seldom used these days). Osama Bin Laden shot to international prominence in August 1998, when he was… [Read more]

Political and economic upheaval is a regular occurrence around the world, but what makes the recent unrest in Egypt so worthy of attention is the country’s overwhelming geopolitical importance in the world. Quite simply, my colleagues and I view Egypt as a ‘pivotal state’. There is no official definition of the term ‘pivotal state’ (although… [Read more]

The assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer on January 4 is yet another blow to Pakistan’s turbulent political scene, where Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s government has lost its majority in parliament following the departure of a key coalition partner recently. Taseer’s death came barely three years after opposition leader and ex-premier Benazir Bhutto was… [Read more]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Turkey earlier this month resulted in a ‘strategic partnership’ being signed, which is expected to lead to bilateral trade trebling to US$50bn by 2015, and to US$100bn by 2020. Although the trade relationship is benefiting China more right now, with Turkey running a US$11bn deficit in 2009, Chinese companies… [Read more]

It is now nine years since the ‘9/11’ terror attacks, and in recent years, I have used this occasion to comment on the state of the ‘War on Terror’ – a phrase that is heard less often these days. This year, the anniversary has been marred by plans by a very obscure American pastor, Terry… [Read more]

Following the hullabaloo of US President Barack Obama’s whistle stop tour of Asia in November – the focus of which was primarily on China, Japan, the Koreas and South East Asia – it might be logical to assume that Washington-New Delhi relations have fallen down the pecking order of America’s list of foreign policy priorities…. [Read more]

Pakistan is one of the most geopolitically important countries in the world today, and how it evolves will affect a whole range of strategic issues. These include: The future of political Islam The fate of Afghanistan The spread of nuclear weapons The economic development of South Asia The development of energy resources in Central Asia… [Read more]