Friday, March 29, 2024
03:02 AM (GMT +5)

Go Back   CSS Forums > General > News & Articles

News & Articles Here you can share News and Articles that you consider important for the exam

Reply Share Thread: Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook     Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter     Submit Thread to Google+ Google+    
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread
  #1  
Old Sunday, March 07, 2010
Senior Member
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Islamabad the beautiful.A dream city indeed
Posts: 828
Thanks: 323
Thanked 332 Times in 223 Posts
niazikhan2 has a spectacular aura aboutniazikhan2 has a spectacular aura about
Post November 2 BY Dr Farrukh Saleem

November 2 is what it's all about -- Mullah Baradar and Manmohan in Riyadh. American public opinion is what it is all about. November 2 is when Americans elect 435 members of the United States House of Representatives. November 2 is when Americans elect 36 new senators to the United States Senate. November 2 is when Americans elect 38 new governors. Between now and November 2, the game is all about America's mid-term elections.

On January 19, Obama had a great fall when Democrat Martha Coakley, the attorney-general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lost and Republican Scott Brown, a truck-driver, won -- a seat Democrats haven't lost in 50 years. All the king's horses and all the king's men are now striving to put Humpty together again.

In this region, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and India have been recruited by a bitter American potion so that the Democrats can bear sweets on November 2. Democrats need to show American voters that they are winning Afghan trophies -- and a whole lot of Afghan trophies. The game is mostly about keeping Pakistan on a short leash and moulding American public opinion in order to make the Donkey -- Democratic Party's symbol -- win.

Yes, there indeed is an economic dimension to Saudi Arabia-India parleys. Saudi Arabia recognises that India is on its way to becoming an economic giant while India recognises that a robust economic machine needs to remain well-oiled. But, no Indian prime minister cared to visit the Kingdom in 28 years. Why now?

Saudi Arabia's foreign policy has long been about two things: to keep America's ruling elite in good humour and contain Iran (containment of Iran is where Saudi-American interests converge). India's foreign policy has also been about two things: internationally, India looks for energy sources to fuel its fast-growing economy and within the region India is Pakistan-centric, scheming to encircle, isolate and corner Pakistan.

Obama's Afghan policy has been all about confusion and indecision. It began as a massive 'surge' relying almost solely on military power. The surge was then coupled with a sharp increase in drone attacks and later on -- after the surge and drone attacks -- an element of 'negotiations with the reconcilable Taliban' was added.

Pakistan's counter-insurgency policy has been equally ambiguous and uncertain. It began by concluding 'peace agreements' with elements that were out to capture physical Pakistani terrain. Peace agreements were then followed by military operations against the Pakistani Taliban and only lately has there been a shift to tackling the Afghan Taliban operating out of Pakistani soil.

On February 4, Scott Brown was sworn in by Vice-President Biden as the 41st Republican member of the United States Senate. And, on February 4, President Obama's Democratic Party lost its supermajority in the Senate (supermajority is 60 per cent of votes required to 'bring out a vote of cloture to end a filibuster').

Democrats currently command an 18-seat majority in the Senate and a 77-seat majority in the House. A lot is at stake for Obama; losing the House would mean an end to Obama's agenda of 'change'. To be certain, Obama has a lot at his disposal, including Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. The king is hoping that all his horses and all his men will put Humpty together again.

PS. Pre- and post-election 2008: Atta was Rs13/kg, now it is Rs31/kg. Sugar was Rs21/kg now it is Rs70/kg. Petrol was Rs45/litre now it is Rs70/litre.



The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Pakistan's History From 1947-till present Sumairs Pakistan Affairs 13 Sunday, October 27, 2019 02:55 PM
Sucide attacks in Pakistan Since 2001 to Nov 2009 Daredevil39 Current Affairs Notes 1 Tuesday, February 25, 2014 03:31 PM
Capital suggestion BY Dr Farrukh Saleem niazikhan2 News & Articles 0 Sunday, January 03, 2010 09:59 AM
indo-pak relations atifch Current Affairs 0 Monday, December 11, 2006 09:01 PM


CSS Forum on Facebook Follow CSS Forum on Twitter

Disclaimer: All messages made available as part of this discussion group (including any bulletin boards and chat rooms) and any opinions, advice, statements or other information contained in any messages posted or transmitted by any third party are the responsibility of the author of that message and not of CSSForum.com.pk (unless CSSForum.com.pk is specifically identified as the author of the message). The fact that a particular message is posted on or transmitted using this web site does not mean that CSSForum has endorsed that message in any way or verified the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message. We encourage visitors to the forum to report any objectionable message in site feedback. This forum is not monitored 24/7.

Sponsors: ArgusVision   vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.