What were the causes of Persian Gulf War I ?
March 31, 2010
There were diverse causes of Iraq Iran war of 1980. Iraq made a sudden attack on Iran due to a bunch of conflicts among them. Both are the neighboring countries and rich in natural resources yet had poor relations.
They have a long history of extensive border conflicts. They were having conflict on strait of harmuz, Iraq had to pay transitory fee to use it, and this strait enhanced the conflict between the two states. Moreover, the two islands i.e. greater tunb and lower tunb had boost up the already going conflict. Area of shat-ul-arab was also the source of conflict. Iran wanted to expand that area and this lead to a conflict between them. Khuzestan province was also the cause of border conflicts among them.
Khomeini and Saddam both came in power almost at same time, both were totally contradictory to each other, they had tainted policies. They were the supporters of different ideologies. One was the supporter of shiati ideology and the other one was the follower of sunnism. So, there lies the basic difference of conflicting ideology.
Saddam had anti shiati policies, Khomeini wanted to expand his revolution. Iran’s ambition was to become a powerful state of gulf and Iraq wanted to become a regional hegemon. Both wanted to keep alive the prestige and cachet of their country. Moreover, Iraqi force was the fifth largest force at that time, due to this fear Iran wanted to expand its national power and prestige. Stance and deportment was totally opposite to each other. So all these conflicts resulted in an attack from Iraq on Iran in September 1980. This attack resulted in a long war of eight years with no drastic changes in borders.
In order to solve their problems, both should have to solve them through peaceful measures by bringing each other on the negotiating table. Launching war was not proved to be a rational act because the war ended with a stalemate.
Separation of East Pakistan
March 30, 2010
Incidence of 1971 brought a vast sagacity of anguish and regret in Pakistani nation. Since the time of partition, East Pakistan was an area of present day Pakistan but in 1971 a major setback occurred and resulted in form of separation of East Pakistan.
Separation-of-East-Pakistan
Diverse factors were involved in that painful incidence. Crisis between east and West Pakistan were going on since the time of independence which ultimately resulted in a chief disaster as the tipping point had arrived. Both the regions were having a lot of differences; they had cultural differences, linguistic differences, geographical differences etc. There was not a road link between the two sides; boat was the only mean of connection. Population was more in number in East Pakistan as compare to the western region, whereas large territorial area came in control of West Pakistan then that of eastern region.
incidents-of-separation-of-pakistan
In case of industrial development and manufacturing projects, East Pakistan was totally ignored and was given no importance by the government in West Pakistan. East Pakistan was renowned for making jute and was producing a lot of it but West Pakistan was earning and East Pakistan was receiving nothing except restraint. Due to this suppression, eastern people were also the participants of anti-Ayub movement in 1960`s.
These all were the basic problems, but the most important factor that played a key role in separation of east Pakistan was the Indian factor. India played a significant and considerable role in the escalation and intensification of already going conflict.
Surrender-of-pak-army
In the elections of 1970, “Awami” league of East Pakistan under Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman got majority and won the elections but government and political elite in West Pakistan were not in favor of giving political power to eastern party. As a result, civil war broke out in the region of east Pakistan along with civil disobedience i.e. non payment of taxes, bills etc. Forces were sent from West Pakistan but problem was not worthy to solve, India took advantage of this situation and was continually providing aid and military training to eastern people. “Mukti bahni” was a group of Bengali rebels; they were trained militarily by Indians against West Pakistan. Situation was becoming worst and worst, West Pakistan finally attacked eastern region along with some of the areas of India. India counter attacked and after the war of about four weeks forces of East Pakistan surrendered. West Pakistan announced an independent state of Bangladesh and west Pakistan had to list its major territorial area. This incidence brought a lot of dissatisfaction and discontent in Pakistani people against their political elite.
written by QAISER JAHAN
Past themes of African foreign policy
March 30, 2010
Foreign policy of any country includes the fulfillment of country’s vital and important interests, it’s basically a sum of country’s well being and advancement. So, the foreign policy makers seek to formulate such type of foreign policy that can prove to be best in achieving its nation’s reimbursement and profit. There is a vast difference of techniques of formulating foreign policies between the developed and developing countries.
Africa was so backward and still it is under the developmental process. There lies an assortment of differences between the old and new foreign policy. We will discuss different objectives of old foreign policy of the decision makers. Supreme aim of their foreign policy in older times was the solidification of power. They wanted to coagulate the power. We can see their this objective in different stuff related to the foreign policy of older times. Secondly, they wanted to propagate and reproduce new institutions. Through this they were able to got fame at international level. Along with it, they were also interested in the construction of regional institutions because they were well known of the advantages provided by these types of institutions so, wanted to make this aim the most achievable one. Organization of African Union and African Union are the examples among several.
Africa
Moreover, they wanted to make alliances with the big powers of that time, they made this aim apart of their foreign policy because making an alliance with big power was the sign of great benefit and improvement. They were also interested in the development of their capacity building and economic progress. By joining international institutions and organizations they wanted to gain esteem and prestige at international level. Due to this they ask for the membership of well-known international organizations. They made the aim of consolidation of their identity an important part of their foreign policy.
These were the certain important aims of their foreign policy, although successful in achieving these aims but at small level because African states included the influence of charismatic and self interested leaders.
Check out south asia news.
written by QAISER JAHAN
Phenomenon of globalization
March 27, 2010
Transformation that is continually coming in world economy is actually the process of globalization. World economy has changed at drastic level and still it is changing and transforming. Forces that are responsible for this transform and modification are liberalization of trade and multi lateral trade system. Liberalization is the elimination of different trade hurdles and obstacles. Whereas, multi lateral trade system is the political process through which a government made and formulate its trade policies. So, we can say that globalization is the consequence of this liberalization and multi lateral trade system.
Peter Drucker argues that, “the talk today is of the “changing world economy”… the world economy is not “changing”; it has already changed-in its foundations and in its structure-and in all probability the change is irreversible.” (1986, 768).
Robert Reich (1992, 3) argues that “we are living through a transformation that will rearrange the politics and economies of the coming century. There will be no national products or technologies, no national corporations, no national industries. There will no longer be national economies, at lest as we have come to understand that concept.”
Globalization leads the world towards complex interdependence means, now all the regions and countries are depending on each other for variety of their unusual need. No one can live in isolation because of this complex interdependence. Due to this now, one thing is not producing just in one country but its different constituents are being made in different countries and they assembled globally. Economies are now interwoven with each other. Now, trade web has been created.
Now developing countries are also start emerging and putting their contribution in enhancing world’s trade and world’s economies. One of the best example is of Newly Industrialized Countries; the Asian Tigers (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong). There share in world’s trade is continually increasing.
Globalization is not an abrupt process; it’s actually a transitional process. All the countries want to enhance their economies and due to this, they want transition. So, process of globalization is far from completion. It’s not a new phenomenon, new is the complexity of the phenomenon which came due to modernization and industrialization.
written by QAISER JAHAN
Pakistan is democratic or authoritarian state
March 26, 2010
State of Pakistan got independence from British rule on 14th august 1947. Soon after its creation, both the great leader who participated in independence movement i.e. M. Ali Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan died which lead Pakistan towards mammoth and enormous troubles.
Democratic and authoritarian states includes totally opposite type of
Government. Democratic state is the state of people, for people and by the people. Whereas, authoritarian state includes one man’s rule. We will discuss different issues, with the help of which it would be easy for us to predict whether Pakistan is a democratic state or authoritarian.
pakistan
Since, the time of independence Pakistan is facing diverse problems. Throughout the history we can see that the ruling elites of Pakistan had always tried to accomplish and carry out their self interests and well being. Pakistan had to face the foremost quandary of lack of appropriate leadership and still it is facing. No public participation is there in any case. Leaders want to enhance their well being, not the well being of their nation. Although, some resources are there in the country but they are just to boost up the well being of the ruling elites. Due to inadequate leadership, country’s circumstances are becoming worse and worse day after day. Lots of areas of sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP are still under developmental process. People are in bad conditions, they are in front of unusual problems mainly in health sector. Moreover, people all over the country are facing the foremost predicament of load shedding. Due to this gigantic setback, business is continuously going down; people’s source of income is giving nothing to them. Students are also becoming victim of all this. High inflation rates are there in the country, due to which poor are becoming poorer. Unemployment is one of the chief troubles facing by Pakistani youth due to which youth is suffering a lot. In spite of holding a lot of university degrees, still they are being wasted by their government. Poverty level is continuously increasing due to unemployment, high inflation rates etc.
All these problems are acting like an engine in making disappointment and dissatisfaction in Pakistani nation. As a result, rebelliousness came in people and they are indulging in different unenthusiastic and unconstructive activities. In search of money they are becoming victim of external agencies who are playing a key role in destabilizing Pakistan.
One of the most important problems of Pakistan is that, since its independence, external penetration both in domestic and foreign politics is there at drastic echelon. US involvement is increasing day by day in Pakistan. Pakistan is acting like a front line state in war against terror lead by US. Whereas, Pakistan is a sovereign state, is it so?
Can we say that Pakistan is a democratic state????
written by QAISER JAHAN
Aftermaths of Islamic revolution of Iran
March 26, 2010
At the end of Pahlavi`s government, Ayat-ullah Khomeini came back from Paris and became the supreme leader of Iran. He was anti-secular and anti-western. Islamic revolution brought Islamic fundamentalism because Khomeini was in power and he was a fundamentalist so, Iran under his rule became more prone towards fundamentalism. One of the foremost and chief outcomes of the revolution was that, Iran soon after the revolution transform its government and cut its relations with different countries mostly with non-Muslim states i.e. USA, Britain, France, Germany etc and started supporting different radical groups in the region of Arab countries mainly to the group based upon shiati ideology; Hezbollah. Moreover, Iran had strengthened its diplomatic relations with Syria and Libya.
It was an era of cold war, when both the super powers were involved in maintaining their influence on most of the regions of the world. Iranian revolution brought rigorous and ruthless outcomes for both the super powers; USA and USSR. As Iran broke up its relations with USA so, USA got alarmed and anxious due to dissimilar reasons. Iran became a fundamentalist state and was the follower of shiati Islam, so, America was afraid of Muslim’s shiati policy. Moreover, one of the factors for America was that of communist ideology which could lead towards domino theory. And with the help of communist ideology soviet could reach towards warm water.
On the other hand soviets threats were also there. Soviet Union was a neighboring state of Iran; both the states were having no excellent relations. They had different conflicts with each other along with some border conflicts. Soviets were afraid of revolution because of the reason that revolution might affect Turkey and Azerbaijan because the ideology was so attracting mainly for the Muslim countries. So, the situation could be complicated to handle. One of the other reason was that during soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Iran opened its borders for the Afghani refugees, main reason of Iran’s this act was that Iran wanted to spread its shiati ideology towards other countries of south Asia as well.
444-days-hostage-crisis
After the revolution Iran hostage crisis were also held, in which 53 Americans were held hostage for 444 days. This crisis ended with several economic sanctions on Iran by the US officials.
Iranian revolution ended with the start of Iran-Iraq war of lengthy period of eight years. War brought severe aftermaths for both the participants. These were the certain immediate aftermaths of the great Iranian revolution that affected diverse imperative regions of the world.
Written by QAISER JAHAN
Change in Numl
March 25, 2010
Every institution includes union of workers. These unions are formed to protect rights of working class and to provide a platform to discus and solve there diverse issues. Labor unions and student unions are the nursery of the politics, these generates intellectuals and politicians that are regarded as an important actors to serve for the nation.
If we talk about union regarding teachers, then I would like to say that teachers are having a key role in running an institution. Teachers union allover the world holds immense importance.
Any institution for producing best outcomes always needed the unity of all of its members. Best working of any institution depends upon the amalgamation of both the teachers and students. All the important revolutions and unusual movement came in practical just due to the struggle and power of students. In case of Pakistan we can have the example of the great anti-Aye movement lead by students and ended with success just due to the command and muscle of students. In anti-Ayub movement, student brought an end to Ayub regime.
Talking about the National University of Modern Languages, recently a student protest has been held in favor of their teacher. It resulted in an aftermath of making of NASA (teachers and faculty union). Mr. Syed Farrukh Zad was elected as a president of this newly born union. He is a professor of International Relation Department.
Your comments are welcomed regarding this revolutionary change; students union election are near by, feel free to comment your suggestions can bring a positive change
Sir-Farrukh-Zad-in-the-middle
Sir-Tahir-Naeem-in-the-middle
sir-Yasir-taking-tea
Dr-Sohail-Mahmood-with-Tahir-Malik
Ir-teachers
causes of Islamic revolution of Iran
March 23, 2010
Iranian revolution came in 1979. There are diverse causes and aftermaths of the incidents. We will go from brief overview of the causes of the incident. Mohammad Raza shah Pahlavi was in power at that time. His policies were almost same as that of his father but he was more rigid than his father. He was pro-western and was a supporter of secularism. He wanted to make Iran a secular country. His policies were not accepted by the Iranian people, they were reluctant to accept his policies. Another reason for the revolution was “WHITE REVOLUTION”. Pahlavi introduced some reforms and named them as white revolution. These reforms included land reforms; he also introduced certain political rights for women. Moreover, he made “savak”, it was a kind of intelligence agency. Savak consisted of spies and they spies were ordered to collect information after reading minds of different people of the nation because Pahlavi was aware of the fact that many people were against his secular policies. He was in close relationship with America and other western countries. Iran-Israel relations got strengthened during Pahlavi`s government.
shah-of-iran
“Qom” was an institution in Iran. It was a fundamentalist institution. They were anti west and also against Pahlavi`s policies. Students studied here after passing an exam, they got the title of “Ayat-ullah”. So Ayat-ullah Khomeini came from this institution. He was against Pahlavi`s policies. So, he started riots in Iran. He was sent in exile first in Egypt and then in Iraq. He was continually delivering speeches to the Iranians from radio. Later, he was exiled in Paris. But he did not stop delivering his speeches. One of the immediate reasons of the revolution was that, Pahlavi charged Khomeini that he was a homosexual. This charge brought hatred and rebelliousness in Iranian people. They were not ready to hear anything about their religious leader. So, riots started with full volume. People came out of their homes on roads and streets. As a result Pahlavi`s government collapsed in January 1979. Khomeini came back and made his government. His policies were totally opposite then that of Pahlavi. Khomeini got lot of popularity among Iranian people.
islamic-revolution-of-iran
Written by Maham Saleem
Apartheid in Africa
March 20, 2010
Apartheid in Africa can be dated back to the time of Dutch settlers. First, Dutch landed in this continent and then Britishers came, power struggle started between them, lot of Boer wars were fought. Afrikaner National Party came in power in 1948, they were corrupt people so, started exercising Apartheid as an institution. Different acts and laws were passed in favor of apartheid. According to these laws, they were asked to keep pass books with them, without these books they were restricted and limited to certain areas. They were limited to certain homelands known as Bantustans. Only 14% land was given to African people in form of these Bantustans. So, they became strangers in their own country. White people deprived them from even their basic rights. They have no right to vote, no right to participate in government affairs. They don’t have access to their country’s resources. In short they were deprived of their political rights, social rights, economic rights and other cultural rights. So, people got rebels, state infrastructure was collapsed, civil wars, civil disorder and instability was the result of the leadership of white settlers…
African National Congress was formed in early 20th century. Nelson Mandela was a prominent figure. Youth league was formed. All this was the reaction against apartheid. Soweto incident happened in 1950`s, lot of blacks were killed, lot of rebelliousness came in African nationals. In 1980`s ANC got support of international community as well.
Leadership changed and F.W de Klerk came in power in 1989. It was expected by white people that he will support apartheid. But besides supporting apartheid, he asked for the quick removal of apartheid and withdrawal of white people. Role of Nelson Mandela was of great importance. Due to his active role he was sent in prison for long time period. In 1991, he came out of jail. Collective efforts of nelson Mandela and F.W de Klerk brought an end to apartheid. Elections held in 1993, ANC won these elections, till the last moment, whites tried to change the results of elections, their act led to severe violation. Nelson Mandela formed government in 1994. New constitution was formulated in 1996. So, finally, some problems of blacks came to an end. Both, nelson Mandela and F.W de Klerk were awarded with noble prize for their efforts. African people experienced suppression for long time period so, due to this lengthy and prolonged period is require for bringing stability.
Written by Maham Saleem
Contributing factors of multilateral trade system
March 20, 2010
International Relations :Multilateral trade system, industrialization, emerging economies, transformation of new economic order, globalization, trade liberalization and emergence of new actors all are diverse interrelated terms.
Before, 1950 trade was there but modernization was absent, it came after 1950. Soon after IInd world war all the countries got active in enhancing their economy. They started abolishing trade barriers including tariffs and other barriers.
Different round of talks i.e. Geneva round of talk , Annecy round of talk, Torquay round of talk, Dillon round of talk, Kennedy round of talk, Tokyo round of talk, Uruguay round of talk , Millennium round of talk etc were held to negotiate trade facilitating issues. Among them the most triumphant and exultant was Uruguay round of talk in which a number of decisions were made relating services sector and intellectual property rights. All these efforts were made to bargain with each other.
Before, developing countries were not the members of multilateral trade system, but gradually a change came and they started changing their trade related policies. They got membership of WTO. Later, demise of Soviet Union led to the fall of communist umbrella, as a result of which various countries became independent and started joining different trade related forums and hence contributing in enhancing the world’s trade system. Trade liberalization, emergence of new actors and free trade all enhances this multilateral trade system.
This multilateral trade system led to multifarious interdependence, globalization and regionalism. Now numbers of regional trade arrangements are being made in expanding trade system. These RTA`s are used to collaborate among the regional member states.
After the hegemonic decline of America in case of trade, lot of new actors emerged and now they are controlling the world’s trade system. This emergence brings a lot of positive changes in international trade area. In short, all these contributing factors are continually expanding and mounting world’s trade system.
Written by Maham Saleem