Coke Studio – Why it matters?

Karachikhatmal has a good reasoning up why Coke Studio does matter. It is an enrichment to the musical scene in Pakistan, whether you like the music they come up with or absolutely dispise it (like me).

But there are obsessions with the show from two groups that I find bemusing.

Pakistan’s water

I have earlier linked to a very good report on water issues in Pakistan here. Following are some links to recently observed water issues in the country.

Rethinking interests

Raul R. Pillar is probably right with his theory , that terrorists (foremost al-Qaeda) do not necessarily need Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack the US in future and that the presence of US troops in the area should not be justified with just this target – to eradicate such breeding places.

[Satire] Change history, we don’t ride camels!

“People in the West think we live on some barren land and ride camels. We never traveled on camels. We had horses. Our history is not properly represented.” A young lady designer, apparently Feeha Noor Jamshed, has announced that we never traveled on camels.  This we included all her designer friends, and staff of family-owned [...]

You’re a terrorist. And you’re not.

US authorities have confirmed that Joseph Andrew Stack who crashed a plane in government office in Austin, TX is not a terrorist. Austin’s Chief of Police, Art Acevedo, stated, “I consider this a criminal attack by a lone individual.” They testified this after proclaiming that it was indeed a suicide attack. Indeed, an ‘interesting’ definition. A [...]

Mathematics of War

Some truely interesting material circles around a recent research paper published in Nature that got some criticism around – maths and conflict. I am fascinated by it since these are tools we commonly use in our field (especially for Hydrology) and I really wouldn’t have thought about applying it in conflict studies. So basically I have no clue about joining these two topics and am myself just about to dive into the topic.

heer ranjha or terror, taliban and totay – where is Pakistan’s cinema?

I just returned from the cinema watching Boz Salkyn, a Kyrgyz movie – a simple story about bride-kidnapping, love and the Kyrgyz people. It has some Heer Ranja aspects. It’s emotional, completely a-political without the aim to critizice society, the state or question religion

The Regional Perspective

I was reading today’s DieZeit articles on Afghanistan, in particular the current discussions in Germany going on over the air strike on petrol trucks in Kunduz and wondering how here in Central Europe the war in Afghanistan is primarily a war over our morale. As McChrystal has suggested we are leading a completely people-centred COIN [...]

reason vs. polemics – how Pakistani intellectuals face the looming US approach on their country

Qalandar Bux Memon has recently published an article commenting on Hillary Clinton’s visit and her statements in Pakistan. Read it here at the Samosa, but it was also published in DAWN and referred to by Yasir here. I recieved emails from Pakistani Leftist Political Activists who praised the article and I guess it was cheered [...]

Which way, Taliban?

Which way, Taliban? [Article] Flipping the Taliban. Fotini Christia and Michael Semple, July/August 2009, Foreign Affairs Volume 88, Number 4. “For many Taliban fighters, insurgency has nothing to do with Islamic zealotry; it is a way of life.” [Article] Know Thine Enemy – Why the Taliban Cannot Be Flipped. Barbara Elias, November 2 2009, Foreign [...]