Pakistan:The State that Refuses to Fail

Author: TWI T

he discourse on failed states, dominant through the 1990s, is fuelled afresh by the Failed States Index (FSI)[1]sponsored by the Fund for Peace and supported by Foreign Policy since 2005. Expectedly, the applicability of the 12 indicators[2] being used to judge the extent of failure of Nation States has been debated for their apparent common treatment of disparate circumstances in societies spanning the nether to the first world. Consider a social factor like ‘Continual Human Flight’ described as ‘brain drain’ of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents, intentional emigration of the middle class or ethnic population to other places of the State or any other State. Or an economic indicator like ‘Imbalance in Economic Development’ defined as inequality and injustice against a group or a tribe in education, jobs, and economic status according to their communal or religious identity. Any discerning analyst, without a goose to cook, will amplify incessantly the resultant discrepancy from applying the same yardstick to States that have evolved and stabilised over seven centuries as against those having a history countable in mere decades.

Security Wise (Bharat Karnad): Why Not Show Pakistan The Same Consideration Shown To China?

"The chief beneficiaries of a squabbling India and Pakistan are China and the United States. They are able to play off the South Asian states against each other, egging on one and then the other, to serve their distinct national interests. For instance, the U.S. has been vocal about its anti-terrorism stance but Washington has time and again made plain—and this has not been paid attention to by Delhi—that their concern is mainly with Pakistan assisting the Afghan Taliban factions fighting the NATO forces in that country, and not with Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar, or Hafiz Saeed. Consider China: The so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is increasingly recognised by Pakistanis as a debt trap that would permit the Chinese to put down roots and redo the ‘East India Company’ scene from some 300 years ago."

Read the full article here

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces

Oxford Research Group | The Golden Age of Special Operations Forces:

"Special Forces have long captured people’s imaginations. Books, films, videogames and news outlets propagate an image of heroism and mysticism – only added to by governments’ reticence to discuss their operations. The impact of this is that, while almost everyone knows or thinks they know what Special Forces are, few really know what they do. This article seeks to address this by giving an introduction to the operations of Special Forces, using the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) as a case study. The first section of this article will describe what SOF do, especially looking at their two core tasks in dismantling terrorist groups – direct and indirect operations – and their increasing role as the sole boots on the ground. The second section briefly describes the history of SOF, from their origins in World War Two to the Obama administration – where, attempting to balance tackling this threat with the political desire to bring troops home, they became his ‘tool of choice’. The final section touches upon three dangers with the current use of SOF: the damage to democracy, given the secrecy of SOF and prominence of their use in US operations; the overuse what is a comparably small and specifically trained part of the US force; and the problems it could present for US’s broader foreign policy goals."

Final Heroic Moments that earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com

Video Shows Final Heroic Moments That Earned John Chapman the Medal of Honor | Military.com: 


"The U.S. Air Force has released video highlights from an overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft taken on March 4, 2002 that shows the final heroic moments of Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who will receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery later this month."

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com

FN FAL: The World's Most Successful Battle Rifle | SpecialOperations.com



Ok, and all this while the Indian Army had the cribs flowing out of its ears. Poor metallurgy, poorer cartridges and a woeful quality check relegated this wonderful weapon to a third-world vestige.

The FAL (French: Fusil Automatique Léger, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed by Belgian small arms designers Dieudonné Saive and Ernest Vervier and manufactured by FN Herstal.

An interesting read at Wiki below. The politics around a simple weapon is intriguing...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FN_FAL&oldid=857303618

How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict, Ivan Arreguin-Toft

OUTLINE PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING A MULTI-ACTIVITY CENTRE IN SHUPIYAN DISTRICT

OPTIMISING THE PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT EFFORT

Proposal for Establishing a Multi-Activity Centre in Shupiyan Town

Executive Summary

The primary purpose of establishing a Multi-Activity Centre is to provide opportunities for the youth to pursue recreational interests as an acceptable alternative to disruptive activities. Though primarily targeted at the youth, SMAC is designed for all groups in the community and seeks to bring club-like facilities to the population.

The Shah-e-Hamadan Multi-Activity Centre is conceived as a flagship project to showcase the synergy between the Army, Police and the civil administration of Shupiyan District in their common pursuit of ushering peace, development and normalcy in Shupiyan District.

There must be an expressive signature of the Army’s involvement in setting up the facility while the running and maintenance must be left to the civil administration. The organisational abilities of the Army, which are well recognised and acknowledged in Shupiyan, will ensure that the umbilical cord with the Army is maintained. The face of the civil administration is necessary to enable the participation of women in the project without the apprehension of the project being labelled as an effort at cultural aggression.

This paper highlights the scope and philosophy behind the project, infrastructure requirements, target population and policy requirements. It also recommends a Board of Members, its functioning and a model for financial self-sustenance. The last factor is critical to the success of the concept. A concerted review after six months of initial functioning incorporating pragmatic ground realities and feedback from the Board Members will be an imperative to arrive at a long term sustainable model.