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Controversy over Peace Talk
March 06, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
The Afghan-Pak relation has thawed in recent months and Pakistan will host the first round of direct peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban elements and other...
Development of Infrastructure and Economic
March 05, 2016 | Mehdi Rezaie
Afghanistan has come a long over the past fourteen years. Much has been accomplished since then in the areas of reconstruction, state-building, poverty alleviation ...
Closing the Investment Gap
March 05, 2016 | Laura Tyson
The weakness of private investment in the United States and other advanced economies is a worrisome – and perplexing – feature of the recovery from the 2008 global...
Women’s Rights are Not Honored
March 03, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
Afghan women suffer greatly and their rights and dignity are violated in one way or another. Despite the fall of Taliban’s regime, women are still threatened...
Ever Closer Union or Common Market?
March 03, 2016 | Joschka Fischer
At stake in the United Kingdom’s upcoming referendum on whether to remain a member of the European Union is the nature of the EU itself. The UK wants a different kind...
Need for a New Vision
March 02, 2016 | Mehdi Rezaie
Afghanistan, over the past decade, has seen the peak of efforts to improve the state of affairs in the country. The end-result of more than a decade of intense efforts...
Will Brexit Break the Pound?
March 02, 2016 | Harold James
The British government’s recent announcement that a referendum on Britain’s European Union membership will be held on June 23 was quickly followed by a sharp...
The Uncertainties over the Electoral Reforms
March 01, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
With the electoral reforms in a stalemate, concerns are growing over the fate of the reform process and the upcoming parliamentary and provincial council elections...
The Persistent Violation of Human Rights
March 01, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
Human rights have been reportedly violated to a large extent and the bleeding nation suffered great challenges in 2015. Amnesty International (AI) has recently released...
Negotiating Peace from a Weaker Stance
February 29, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
As first meeting of face-to-face peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban is being planned by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group in the first week...
The Problem with Evidence-Based Policies
February 29, 2016 | Ricardo Hausmann
Many organizations, from government agencies to philanthropic institutions and aid organizations now require that programs and policies be “evidence-based.&rdquo...
Peace Talk – A Continuous Deadlock or Pyrrhic Victory
February 28, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
Peace talk has changed into a tortuous process and Afghanistan made great sacrifices in this regard without a clear outlook. Afghan officials urged the Taliban elements...
Syria’s Truce a Ray of Hope
February 28, 2016 | Manish Rai
The United States and Russia are backing a cessation of hostilities agreement in war-torn Syria which has been accepted by most of the parties involved in the conflict...
Which Militant Groups Will be Included in Peace Talks?
February 27, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
The first face-to-face talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are to take place in early March in Islamabad. A statement released on Tuesday at the conclusion...
The End of Cross-Border Surrogacy?
February 27, 2016 | Donna Dickenson
The global trade in babies born through commercial surrogacy is slowly being shut down. India, Nepal, Thailand, and Mexico have introduced measures that would limit or ban...
Saying Yes to Europe
February 25, 2016 | Carl Bildt
In 1963, French President Charles de Gaulle stunned the United Kingdom by rejecting its application to join the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European...
Will Persistent Push for Talk be Fruitful?
February 25, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
At least 13 people, including nine civilians, were reportedly killed and 19 more were wounded by member of the Taliban insurgents in Kabul on the eve of the latest...
Is the High Peace Council Sidelined?
February 24, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
With the four-nation peace initiative set to bring the Taliban into peace negotiations, the government has announced appointment of new authorities to lead the Afghan...
The Terrorism of Child Abuse
February 24, 2016 | Dr. Faisal Ali
The history of mankind has experienced incessant petrifying and pestilential stories of child abuse. The imps of this sinister have stupefied the whole world because...
Kabul Hosts Fourth Meeting of QCG
February 23, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
The surge in militancy and terrorist attacks have led to great casualties and created a sense of fear and disappointment in the air. Violence and bloodshed continue unabated...
Closing Developing Countries’ Capital Drain
February 23, 2016 | Joseph E. Stiglitz and Hamid
Developing countries are bracing for a major slowdown this year. According to the UN report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016, their growth will average only...
Children’s Vulnerability to Militancy
February 22, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
Insurgency has intensified within recent months and a large number of civilians were reportedly killed, mainly in 2015. Afghan children are particularly left at the...
The Inequality Puzzle
February 22, 2016 | Dambisa Moyo
Over the past decade, income inequality has come to be ranked alongside terrorism, climate change, pandemics, and economic stagnation as one of the most urgent issues...
Taliban’s Child Recruits
February 21, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
Recruiting children as war soldiers by the militant groups has been on the rise, a Human Rights Watch report suggests. According to the HRW report, the Taliban recruit children...
Strive to Find Out Ways of Getting Out of Quagmire
February 21, 2016 | Dilawar Sherzai
Since mankind is considered to be the supreme creature, we all know it perfectly that he, from the very first day had the quest to search for cryptic and mysterious aspects...
Fighting Corruption: a Prerequisite for Peace and Democracy
February 20, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
A joint report released by two major transparency advocacy organizations warns that the government of Afghanistan “can only ensure survival of the state and...
Virtual Education in Conflict Zones
February 20, 2016 | Gordon Brown
Educating refugees and children in conflict zones is one of the biggest challenges facing the international community. Their schools have been reduced to rubble. Their...
Civilians – The Victim of Terror
February 18, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
According to the UN report, the number of civilian deaths and injuries in 2015 was the highest record since 2009 in Afghanistan, with children suffering on a large...
What Beats Corruption?
February 18, 2016 | Lucy P. Marcus
Corruption is a global scourge, sometimes becoming so deeply ingrained in countries that combating it seems impossible. In January, Transparency International released...
Government’s Failure to Curb Corruption
February 17, 2016 | Dilawar Sherzai
Afghanistan is one of the countries largely influenced by the menace of corruption. Corruption has, in fact, penetrated deep within different institutions in the...
Afghanistan’s Contradicting Stance on Taliban Insurgency
February 17, 2016 | Abdul Ahad Bahrami
With the peace efforts unfolding, the terminology on the insurgency and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is also changing. The Afghan government is finding...
ISIL – A Threat to Afghanistan and Pakistan
February 16, 2016 | Hujjatullah Zia
The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has changed to a menace for both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The ISIL group has aggravated the security...
More War than Peace
February 16, 2016 | John Andrews
Only the dead have seen the end of war.” George Santayana’s dictum seems particularly appropriate nowadays, with the Arab world, from Syria and Iraq...
The Faculty of Wonder
February 14, 2016 | Dilawar Sherzai
Throughout thousand years of evolution human beings have learnt that the faculty of wonder is one of the basic attributes that can help them in finding answers to so...
Einstein Was Right; Gravitational Waves Do Exist
February 14, 2016 | Roohullah Qalandari
The collision of two black holes- a tremendously powerful incident detected for first time ever by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)...