The nuclear issue is considered to be one of the most important concerns in the Pak-US affairs since the 1970s. The issue further transpired after May 1998 when India conducted its second nuclear test, followed by Pakistan. Moreover, the US shared its critical concern over Pakistan’s nuclear programme since 1990. Afterwards, the US imposed sanctions on Pakistan to penalize the country and restrict the State of Pakistan from developing nuclear weapons. The Indian nuclear tests in May 1998 furthered the overall frustration in the U.S. administration which paved the way for taking some strong economic restrictions against India and Pakistan. It also became a concentrated challenge for the US to avoid any expected nuclear clash between Pakistan and India in the post-nuclear tests scenario. In this article, the US policy of nuclear non-proliferation toward Pakistan in the 1990s has been extensively examined in chronological order to set a proper score of literature for the researchers and academicians. Also, the study is conducted based on the secondary source of data, published interviews and a comparative analysis of US assistance to Pakistan in the 80s and 90s, to bring up the faded facts.

Quality of higher education institutes determines the future of any nation. Higher education commission (HEC) has strived hard to elevate the standards of higher education in Pakistan but desired results have not been redeemed. This article endeavors to highlight barriers in the implementation of quality assurance mechanism devised by HEC and higher education institutes (HEIs) to improve quality of both teaching and research. Data were collected from 204 Government sector and 205 faculty members of private sector universities in the Punjab Province and the Capital Islamabad. T-test for independent sample was applied to find the dissimilarities in the views of government sector and faculty members of private universities about hurdles in the quality assurance procedure adopted by their respective universities. It was revealed that inconsistent policies, ambiguous targets and lack of training regarding quality assurance practices were main hurdles.

Civil-military relations in Pakistan are always in search of common ground. Historically, military forces and civilian leadership in Pakistan struggle to find the right balance and the civilian leadership has hardly commanded the gun. This study is intended to analyze that how the two selected daily English newspapers of Pakistan, i.e. Dawn and The News covered the major developments in civil-military relations, particularly during the regime of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, followed by the most sensitive event i.e., Zarb-e-Azb. The study employed the method of discourse analysis and has used the theoretical notion of agenda-setting and framing. The results of the study revealed that the slant, style, themes, and discourses used in the news stories of both the newspapers almost remained the same, appreciating the military institutions positively. Whereas condemning the civilian leadership for their lack of concern towards implementing the already approved Nation Action Plan.

China and India are rising powers of Asia. Both Asian giants have to adopt the policy of interdependence by growing economic ties; on the other side, they have a strict stance on border disputes. This article describes in detail the bilateral relationship between China-India, especially under the Modi doctrine, during his first term. Secondly, it also discusses the limitation of these growing ties and growing concerns for Pakistan. The basic argument of this article is that the growing economic interdependence will affect Pakistan, especially if this interdependence transfer from the economic to military dimension. The whole data is based on exploratory in nature. A qualitative research method has been used to achieve the research goals. Tools used for data collection include oral interviews and content analysis of the existing literature on the subject in the form of books, official reports and research articles. The relevant literature has been objectively analyzed to reach a meaningful conclusion.

Construction of perception and commodification of foresight is a political tool to hold control over the means of production and enhance a hegemonic control over the public sphere, imagination, and even mass perceptions. Foresight is a process to (re)produce commodities, but the process is itself a commodity. Foresight has become a commodity; now, it is a market product for sale and purchase. Politics of prospects related to CPEC and the construction of perceptions and meanings attached to the development process is a significant component of foresight.This paper is primarily an explanation of hermeneutical study CPEC by analyzing the existing perceptions and perceived prospects. The perceptions and perceived prospects provide an institutional base of forecasting and foresight. CPEC is operating in a larger capitalist system whose sole purpose is (re)production of capital in which superficial fascination of foresight and development are merely commodities for buying and selling. A qualitative approach has been used for analyzing the perceived prospects over CPEC. Pakistan perceives CPEC as the development of industry, infrastructure, and agriculture and a catalyst for economic growth development.

Women empowerment and Islamization have critical relationship with each other in the political history of Pakistan. The domination of a single dogmatic thought process has affected the alternatives and has reduced the political space of almost half of the societal segment in the political sphere. The initiatives of women empowerment have been taken in Pakistan, but that empowerment could not trickle down to the masses. The slogans of empowerment further concentrate the power of the dominant elite in a same class. The process of Islamization started in Pakistan before its inception in 1947. Islamization got significant momentum during the Zia-ul-Haq regime in Pakistan in the 1980s. This paper is an attempt to explore the engagements of women with Islamization and how the process of Islamization influenced women's empowerment. The existing writings on Islamization largely focused on Islamic laws and their political manifestation in the polity of Pakistan. This study primarily focused on gendered dimensions and their linkages with Islamization. A qualitative approach has been used for exploring the core question, and it has been found that ideological state apparatuses are dominating both Islamization and women's political rights.

Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership has assumed a personalised character which has drastically transformed its domestic and defence policy as well as its global grand strategy. The main contour of the grand strategy is a strategic rebalancing in the places of its influence including its near abroad and its area of interest including Asia, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Putin’s leadership and psychological orientation have a fundamental role in the materialisation of this transformation and the study of this factor serves as a lens to explain Russia’s resurgence and also provides a guide to Russia’s future foreign policy. One of the significant aspects of the strategic rebalancing is Russia’s increasing influence in South Asia and the projects of building transport and trade corridor. While China remains another significant powerful player with similar geostrategic and geoeconomic plans; states such as Pakistan foresee great challenges as well as opportunities which emerge as a result of the increasing influence of Russia and China in the region and the lingering dissonance in Pakistan’s relations with the United States of America.

Kashmir is primarily a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. There is a substantial ideological component to the intentions of the two nation-states in this matter, which go beyond simple geopolitical or strategic considerations. The role of the United Nations (UN) in the face of human rights violations in Kashmir is the subject of this article. This article continues to cover the conflict in Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Hence, it highlights the significance of the UNs' involvement in the Kashmir conflict. The failure of UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute and the Indian government's rejection of outside engagement are both extensively addressed. In Kashmir, the physical and emotional pain has resulted from the failure of the international community to protect human rights. The research concludes that India would never be able to find a lasting solution to the situation in Kashmir because there have been no significant political or economic repercussions on India as a result of the Kashmiri conflict.

A major health policy concern is the presence of inefficiencies in health care provision. This study estimates the technical efficiency for ambulatory services and inpatients care in private sector hospitals in Pakistan. Efficiency scores for the sample hospitals, estimated using Stochastic Frontier Analysis, are aggregated at the regional (district) level to identify the existence of spatial interdependence. The results from the spatial analysis suggest that efficiency has a positive spillover for outpatient care in small hospitals. Big hospitals, however, show inconsistent results. We concluded that small hospitals compete in outpatients with the motive of profit maximization.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) traces the evolution of Changezs sense of belonging by encompassing a substantial part of his life odyssey, ranging from his movement to the US for higher studies to his disillusionment and redirection of fundamental desires. This study explores those transformative stages that help shape his identity. For this purpose, James Marcias theory of identity achievement has been used as a theoretical framework. Marcia (1980) contends that certain situations and events (called crises) act as catalysts to prompt identity moratorium. The internal conflict caused by such catalysts stimulates adolescents to probe into their beliefs, goals and values. Changez also encounters the four statuses described by Marcia i.e., identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and final achievement. Consequently, a refraction in his sense of belonging takes place - from love for American exceptionalism to love for Pakistan and Islam (Morey, 2011). This study evaluates the level of identity achievement in Changez as a result of this refraction